Help Me
by psycho-uchiha
Summary: Naruto has an abusive father, and he's finally fed up with it. So, in turn, he goes to Tsunade, who's his principal and also the lead surgeon at the hospital in Konoha, things start to change for the better. Sasuke is a loner, anti-social most say, but when he has to take care of Naruto for about two months, things start to change.
1. Chapter 1 Naruto

Author's Note: Yes, this is the long ass story I worked on for National Novel Writing Month last year :) It's officially finished as of a few weeks ago, but I was busy arguing with myself whether I should post this or not. And since I'm posting it, that means I won! HA! Well anyway, This is a story between Naruto and Sasuke's POV's but Naruto's actually dating Gaara, you'll find that out yourselves anyway, just thought I'd clear the air as to why Gaara isn't a POV in this series.

In this particular novel, we focus more on Naruto, just to clear the air on that a little bit also.

Publishing on this story, will be once a week on Sunday. I have it set in my calendar to make sure I publish the chapters beyond this and not let any of my readers down!

I hope you all enjoy, this took me two and a half months to complete :) R + R + F if you like, criticism and comments are especially welcome because I'm going to do major editing on this and publish it in the future! :D

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Naruto**_

Hell, that's the exact word I could describe my life I have with my father. Fuck, the drunkard would probably save his money to send me out somewhere to live if he didn't spend it all on booze. Why he hated me so, and why he drank so much, was beyond me. But one things' for sure, he blamed me for something. One time, in his drunken sleep, I heard him mutter how I'm the reason Mom isn't here anymore, how I'm the one that killed her.

That's how I learned that he's blaming me for Mom's untimely death of giving birth to me.

From people around me, I heard that my father was a genius, a prodigy and could have become the leader of our small, but growing village. But also, from what I heard, he gave up once Mom died. It was like all his ambition and his will died when she did. Now, from experience, all that was left was anger, depression, fear and loneliness.

Once, I tried to talk to my father about it, because I wanted to tell him how alone I was too, but all I got was a death glare and an hour long beating. His slurred speech telling me that I had no right to ask him about Mom. It was the first of many beatings after that, and they've been happening for the last nine years. Beatings were numb to me now since my body can take them.

It's not healthy mourning the death of someone for so long, and if I remember correctly, he's been mourning over Mom for fourteen years.

That's why I've been led to talk to the principal of my high school; Tsunade, who is also a psychologist and works at the hospital when school is let out. She's a world wide known healer, and the best one at that. So that's why I've skipped most of my first period class to talk to her, who seems to have been in her office arguing with her secretary and long friend and student, Shizune, about her drinking habits.

"Tsunade, Naruto is outside in the office waiting for you. He's not leaving for class unless he talks to you. He says it's important." Shizune's soft, caring voice echoed from the room. I'm going to have to get her something for troubling her like this when I see her again.

"Then send the gaki in!" Tsunade's booming voice echoed louder than Shizune's and left my ears ringing. Damn, this woman had a set of lungs on her.

That's when the door opened and Shizune rushed out, heaving for air with her long argument with the woman and sighed when she saw me.

"I swear, we need a sound proof office for her" Shizune teased, "and you can go on in, just don't take too long okay? You have class."

"Yea, thanks a lot Shizune-chan." I smiled, standing up and slung my book bag over my shoulder and walked around the desk and into Tsunade's office, closing the door behind me and taking a seat in one of the two chairs in front of her desk.

"What is it gaki?" Tsunade asked, her blonde hair getting in her flushed face as she hiccupped a few times. Man, baa-chan looked so hilarious when she was drunk.

"Yea … Tsunade-baa-chan … it's about my … my Dad …" I hesitated, at first, wondering if I should have just let the issue go, but then me thinking about getting the help my father really needed, the two of us could be living happier. I want him to be happy.

"So what's wrong with Minato that had you come to me?" Tsunade asked, somehow interested.

"Well, um, you know how he likes drinking. I think he goes to some of the bars with you after hours … but, that's all he does anymore. I don't think he's had a job in the last two years. He's become more depressed and I'm afraid he's going to do something to hurt himself." I said, not making eye contact because I knew that she'd be giving me a worried look.

"Is he beating you, Naruto?" She asked, and she was serious.

"N-No." I said, probably too quickly.

"I'm asking, because you look like you have a sore shoulder. You never carry your backpack on one shoulder." She said. Great.

"No, baa-chan, I got hurt during a work out." I said, which wasn't all a lie. My shoulder had been hurting before Dad decided to take a crowbar to me last night because I decided it was smart for me to hide his booze from him before he got home from one of the many bars he had been to yesterday.

"Okay." She sighed a moment later, her eyes prying into me like daggers until they softened some.

"Will you be able to help my Dad?" I asked, hoping I'd have a good answer.

"I think I will. I'll mention it to him, but ultimately, it is his choice if he wants help or not. And from what you're telling me, he needs AA and some serious down time with a psychologist and some anti-depressants." She said, listing off the things that needed to be done to help my father. And I was glad with the answer I was given. "It will be a long and hard road, but you'll have to be there every step of the way."

"Hai, baa-chan." I smiled widely. "I will."

"Good, now go see Shizune for a note and get to class, you're way past the first bell." Tsunade smiled as I stood up.

"Thanks baa-chan." I said, happily leaving her office for once and Shizune had a note prepared already and I grabbed it from her as I walked by. "Thanks Shizune-chan."

"No problem Naruto." She smiled as I left the main office and rushed towards my first period English class with Iruka. All the pain in my left shoulder somehow dissipating, but I knew if I did anything, I'd regret it.

"Okay, class, I hope you all did your homework. Each of you had to find a book and read at least the first five chapters and write two to three paragraphs about what you read so far." I heard Iruka say voice said over the chat of the class. He had probably noticed I wasn't there and for some odd reason, it sounds like he waited to start class as long as he could. Probably waiting for me, I hope not.

But as I opened the door, everyone's eyes fell on me and they were all daggers. What the hell did I do now?

"Naruto, why are you late?" Iruka asked, his eyes daggers, but not in the bad way.

"I was talking to Tsunade-baa-chan about something." I said, handing him the slip Shizune gave me and went and took my seat in the back next to a pair of tired looking Shikamaru and Kiba.

"Don't call the principal that, and thank you for the slip." Iruka sighed as he threw the white piece of paper away into the trash and went back to what he was saying.

"What took you so long dork?" Kiba's tired voice yawned in my direction as he sat up a bit and rested his elbows on the desk, using his hand to prop up his head.

"I was getting advice about something, nothing you two need to know." I huffed and crossed my arms.

"I hope, again, that you all picked a book for your book report that's due at the end of the quarter." Iruka's voice said, and that's when I tensed in my chair … I forgot to get a book last night before going home.

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked.

"I forgot to get a book last night." I whispered, and apparently, I wasn't whispering low enough because somehow, Iruka heard me.

"Naruto, front of the class." He sighed heavily. I could tell he was disappointed already.

Sighing, I got up and went to the front of the class with my head down.

"Go to the library and get a book, quickly, here's a pass. You're far behind and I expect you to have that assignment first thing in the morning. This is the only time I'm letting you get a pass at this. Next time, I won't be so forgiving." Iruka said, handing me a pass and I couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, sure thing Iruka-sensei." I nodded quickly and left. To be honest, I had no idea what book I was going to choose at all.

When I got to the library, there was already a class in here. I'm guessing it's most likely the Psychology class. I have it too, so now that I know I'm going to be in here later, I can come back if I don't find a book now. But knowing Iruka, he'd want me to do what I came here to do; find a book and get back to class. And looking at the clock, I didn't have much time before the bell rang, and I left my stuff in Iruka's classroom.

So, I hurriedly went to the shelves, ignoring the other students as I went through and decided hell with it and chose a book called Impulse, by Ellen Hopkins.

The book looked thick, but when I looked through the pages, they didn't have much on them, then I realized that the entire thing was written in something like poetry … and second guessed reading it, but reading the summary, made me want to read it. So, I shrugged my shoulders and put my heart into this book and decided to get it. What harm will it be if I read it? Right?

Feeling like I accomplished something, I left the row of books whilst reading it at the same time and bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were there." I said, picking up the book I dropped and looked up to see that it was none other than Ibiki-sensei, and I wanted to go and hide.

"I hope you have a pass to be here, Uzumaki." Ibiki said, though from my own experience, he wasn't as threatening as he really was, unless he was in a bad mood.

"Yes, I have a pass." I said, pulling it out of my pocket and showed him, my hands shaky a little bit.

"Thanks, now hurry up, the bell rings in five minutes." Ibiki said, handing it back to me and I nodded, quickly going up to the desk and signed the book out before rushing back to class. Praying that Ibiki wasn't going to be in a bad mood when I had him in four periods.

Realizing that I was running, I slowed my steps into a fast walking pace so I wouldn't get in trouble for running indoors, and finally made it into the classroom just before the bell rang and rushed over to my desk to get my backpack. I had art class next, so it was just upstairs. I could take my time a little bit to get there.

"Hey, Naruto, did you chose a book?" Iruka asked from his desk. It seems he had the classroom reading the entire time I was gone. He looked bored out of his mind.

"Yea, Iruka-sensei." I nodded as I walked up to him, backpack slung over my right shoulder and book in my free arm.

"Impulse? I never heard of that book. And it looks thick. Do you think you'll have it read in time?" Iruka asked.

"Yea, I think I will." I nodded.

"Okay, now get to class." Iruka smiled, the next class' students already filing into the room, so I had at most two minutes to get to class out of the four we were already given.

By the time lunch time rolled around, I was completely exhausted and I could tell my shoulder wasn't doing any better. As of last period, my shoulder wouldn't stop grinding when I tried to move it, and I couldn't help but realize that my shoulder seemed out of place somehow. I guess my shoulder had more damage as I thought, I couldn't even lift an empty lunch tray with it when I went to get my lunch, so I sighed heavily and decided to skip lunch today and went to sit in my usual place; by the window where no one could bother me.

"Hey, Naru, is everything okay?" A familiar voice asked, making my spirits go up, but only a little bit when I saw a familiar flash of red hair before someone sat next to me, thank God, on my good side.

I couldn't help but smile when he sat next to me.

"Hey Gaara." I said and I let him hug me, forcing myself not to wince or tense when he touched my bad shoulder, though I knew I failed when I heard a low growl escape from his throat.

"What happened to your arm?" He asked, and I should have known from the very beginning that I couldn't hide anything from him.

"Well … there's two different stories to how my shoulder got hurt …" I said, not a single lie escaping my lips as I told him. Yes, Gaara knew everything, and how abusive my father could be.

"I have time, and you have to explain why you didn't meet me at your locker this morning anyway." Gaara said, and I gulped, how could I have forgotten!? Oh, that's right, I decided enough was enough with my father last night.

"I'm sorry, I thought I told you … I went to talk to Tsunade-baa-chan about getting my Dad some help." I said, and I could feel him tense even more when I mentioned my Dad.

"I honestly don't see why you think he deserves a second chance with you Naru." He sighed, but relaxed after a moment or so.

"Well, he is my Dad after all." I shrugged, sighing heavily.

"Now, what happened to your arm?" Fuck …

"Well, I did hurt it lifting weights yesterday before going home … after seeing you of course, but … my … Dad, uhm … went after me last night with a crow bar." I said, barely giving voice to the end of my explanation, so half of me prayed he didn't hear it.

"He … did … what?" I heard him growl.

"I hid his booze." I said, looking down at the table and sighed heavily. "I know, he doesn't deserve the second chance I'm giving him … but he's the only family I have."

"I know Naru, but you know Tsunade's going to find out what really happened to your shoulder eventually."

"She even asked me what happened to my shoulder, I obviously told her half the truth and lied to her when she asked if my Dad was abusing me …" I said, now wishing I shouldn't.

"Why did you lie about that!" He wanted to yell, but thank God that he kept his voice low.

"Because I'll be taken away from everything, I'll never see you again if that happens." I said, and now the tears were starting to fall. A second later, I could feel Gaara pulling me closer to him as he hugged me, it felt good knowing I had someone to go to and for someone to comfort me when I needed it. "I don't know what I'd do if you were taken away from me."

"Shh, it's all going to be okay, and no one is going to take you away from me. I'll make sure that never happens, okay?" Gaara whispered into my ear. "You just need to be more careful around your father when he's drunk, okay?"

"I promise." I nodded with a small smile. This was just what I needed to hear.

"Hey, Naruto, what are you doing after school?" A whiny voice asked, that belonged to none other than Kiba, who was all ready to go home so he could play with his huge ass dog and ignore his homework.

"I'm going home to do my homework, that's what I'm doing." I sighed. School might have already been out for the last ten minutes, and waiting for our rides to get here was a pain in the ass. Though I personally knew that my father wasn't going to be here to pick me up. If I was lucky, he wasn't home and at a bar somewhere in town getting his ass drunk. But he could also be home sleeping off yesterday. I prayed it wasn't the latter.

"You're such a dunce, maybe you should hang out with that jerk Sasuke. He thinks he's better than everyone." Kiba snorted. "You'd fit in perfectly with him."

"Take that back Kiba! I'm not a jerk like him!" I hissed. "I just don't want my grades to fall, that's all."

"Yea, sure, since when did you care about your grades?" Kiba asked, and that was a really good question.

When in the hell did I care about my grades?

"I don't know what you're talking about." I huffed, starting my walk home and wished that Kiba didn't follow.

"Whatever dunce!" Kiba yelled behind me.

I knew he was mad at me for not stopping by to see his dog, hell, I haven't seen that mangy mutt since it was still a puppy. Why was he making a huge ass fuss over something as trivial as that? I don't have a single, fucking clue.

But anyway, I wanted to take the long way home. At least if Dad was still home, he might be getting ready to leave and was about to. So if luck was on my side, at least he'd be leaving when I got there.

"So, Dad, will you hate me after this?" I asked to myself, a question that I wanted to ask my father many times when I thought about getting him help for his growing problems. But somehow, I knew the answer wasn't going to be a good one. "How can I be stupid, you already hate me."

I sighed heavily as I walked the streets, turning whichever way I needed to go until they led me home, only to find a car parked in the drive way and a looming doom over my head.

"I hope he hasn't talked to Tsunade-ba-chan already." I sighed, prayed, wished, hoped.

I wanted my feet to turn me the other way so I could walk longer, wait until he left, but they betrayed me and led me straight through our front yard that looked neglected and needed a good watering and a mow, but Dad never taught me how to run the mower, if we even had one, and he wouldn't do it himself. Hasn't in the last few years, and straight up the front steps and into the house, braced for whatever object that could and would be thrown at my head the moment I walked in.

But, surprisingly, nothing came, and there was no sign of life in the house at all. Maybe Dad was still sleeping, so I tiptoed inside and quietly closed the door. I'd say that I was home, but knowing me and my big mouth, it'd be too loud and would wake Dad up. And that's the last thing I needed right now.

I quietly made my way to my room and closed that door quietly too before throwing myself onto my bed, wincing when my shoulder throbbed a bit.

A nap was calling for me, but I knew that if I fell asleep now, I'd never get my homework done, and I had a shit load of it to do. English was going to take me forever, there weren't real chapters in this book, and I realized that there's at least three to four different point of views in it, so I decided that at least one point of view per character was a chapter, so I was going to need to read a lot in order to get the so called five chapters in. Psychology was going to be the hardest, I'd use my laptop, but my father doesn't know I own one. The library was five miles away from here, and I don't feel like walking there this late knowing it'd close in four to five hours, so I'd have to get a pass to go there during study hall once again to get it done. Math was the hardest subject for me, but at least I got it done with the help from Sakura. Art class was also done, we only had to do a self portrait of what you'd be in the future, and that was done in class. But if I were to look at it now, I'd want to add some stuff to it.

"Naruto!" Came my Dad's booming voice through the house, and I could tell, he wasn't very happy, and the fact that the front door slammed, meant that he hadn't been home at all. Which reminded me, he had his keys taken from him the other night, so he had been walking to his bars if he didn't get a ride from Tsunade or Shikamaru's and Chouji's dads.

Quickly, I got up off my bed and rushed to my bedroom door and threw it open, standing in the doorway when I saw my Dad standing in front of me. Yea, he looked pissed.

"What in the hell did you tell Tsunade?" He barked in my face, making me step back because the smell of his breath was overpowering with alcohol, and it made me want to get sick.

"I didn't tell her much, just that I thought you could use some help." I squeaked, damn it all, I hated it when my voice squeaked like a girl.

"Help in what? My drinking?" He yelled, his right foot raising as he kicked me hard in the stomach. Making me take a few steps back and fall to the ground on my ass. I wished that I didn't land on the corner of my dresser, that was going to leave a nasty bruise later on.

"Help in everything." I finally screamed, and that's when Dad stopped in his tracks. I didn't have to look up at him to know that he was staring at me with wide eyes. "You're always hurting, and I would have asked for help a long time ago if I could have just had enough courage to do so. I know you hate me, and I don't care, but you're my father and I love you. I just wanted to help you be happy again."

I didn't know I had started crying until I felt the tears fall on my hands that were resting on my knees. But I knew Dad hadn't moved except to lower his arms that I have no doubt were ready to slam me with another one of his precise aims with whatever he was holding.

"Can't I be the inspiration you need, Dad?" I asked, finally looking up to see that Dad had actually fallen to his knees and, for some reason, looked defeated. But I think my words were finally starting to sink in. This wasn't the first time that I told him all of this.

"Naruto …" Dad mumbled, at first I didn't know what was going to happen, but I never expected my Dad could move so fast, especially since he wasn't as sober as I would like him to be.

But, what shocked me the most as I shielded myself for whatever was coming to me, I felt him wrap his arms around me into the first hug I ever got from him, and he was sobbing onto my bad shoulder, but I didn't care.

"I'm sorry." Dad kept repeating and I managed to slide my arms out from between us and hugged him back. I didn't know if I should do anything else, but I let him hug me and cry on my shoulder as long as he wanted. It was sometimes better to let it all out than stop half way.

"It's okay Dad." I mumbled, hoping he heard me.

To be honest, I don't know how long we had been sitting in my room, hugging each other. It might have been a couple of hours, because from where I could see, it was starting to get dark, and Dad had been quiet for the last hour or so. I was starting to think he fell asleep on me when I started moving to get him off my bad shoulder.

"I'm going to go see Tsunade, I'll probably be out until really late …" Dad said as he started taking his weight off of me. I didn't realize until then how much my back hurt. I must have been leaning against the corner and didn't know it.

"Here, I'll help you up." Dad said once he was on his feet, holding out both hands, and I took them happily, letting him pull me to my feet and I winced at the strain on my back. "And maybe you should come with me and have her look at your back."

"Naah, I'm fine otoo-san, you go and talk with her. I'll be okay. It's probably just a bruise." I said, scratching the back of my head like I usually do when I'm nervous.

"Okay, I'll see you later." Dad said, and when he smiled, it was genuine, and I couldn't help but smile back.

Finally, some things around here were going to change.


	2. Chapter 2 Sasuke

Author's Note; Okay, I've officially made up my mind, instead of updating every Sunday, I'm updating every Sunday and Wednesday! If I went with my original idea, this story would never be finished before the end of the year. So, here's chapter 2 for Save Me! R+R+F :) Any questions you have, I'll answer as soon as I can. Now enjoy :3

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Sasuke**_

Why does school have to be so boring? I'm smart enough to get my diploma already, so I don't know why I have to go through these classes anymore.

Besides, I'd rather be home doing my own thing than be here all day anyway. Messing around on my computer and purposely forgetting about my homework. But the fact that I was going to school meant that I was away from my brother who decided he had to raise me when Mom and Dad died in a car accident. I hated my brother so much too, and his possessiveness was more annoying than him playing Dad.

This was the only reason why I'd rather stay away from home. If Itachi wasn't around, I'd be a recluse. I'd have no reason to leave anymore. But I know that'd never happen, even if I do leave and move to live on my own. I'd have to have a job just to keep the place. God damn, life was so fucking annoying. Thank God that school was over today.

"You're such a dunce, maybe you should hang out with that jerk Sasuke. He thinks he's better than everyone." Kiba snorted. "You'd fit in perfectly with him."

"Take that back Kiba! I'm not a jerk like him!" I hissed. "I just don't want my grades to fall, that's all."

"Yea, sure, since when did you care about your grades?" Kiba asked, and that was a really good question.

I heard the two argue. They were loud, too loud for my tastes, but hearing that from Naruto made me want to just walk over to him and punch him in the fucking face. But if I do that now, my brother, who's picking me up today, would be angry with me and take everything away as punishment. Stupid brother.

But I restrained from going over there and decided to walk on over to our car where Itachi was waiting. I wanted to get the ride home done and over with.

"Hey gaki, why such a long face?" He asked, it made me sick the way he talked to me sometimes. Hell, I'm not a little kid anymore.

"Not today Itachi, I'm not in a good mood." I said, proving how much of an ass I can really be.

"You need to lighten up a bit dork." Itachi said, making me look at him as I tried to retaliate, but I was flicked hard on the forehead, something he did all the time since we were little.

"Okay, that's enough Itachi, do that again and I will walk home from here!" I yelled, and I didn't care if someone outside the car heard us.

"Okay, that's enough of the attitude you little brat." Itachi spat as we drove off, accidentally – or intentionally – making the tires on the car squeal as we left the parking lot and headed towards home. "I have to work until midnight and I don't have time to deal with your bullshit."

"Then don't deal with my bullshit!" I argued.

"I have to! No one else will." Itachi said, and I could tell he was starting to sound hurt from my attitude. Like I give a rats ass.

"Drop me off half way home, then you can go to work." I said with a bit of venom in my words. I didn't want to stay in the same car with him longer than that. I feel like I'd blow a blood vessel if I did.

"Fine." Itachi huffed. And we were quiet until he pulled over a couple blocks away from our huge house.

"Remember, I'll be home late, if you make dinner, save some for me okay?" Itachi said, hoping I had calmed down enough to be a little nice to him.

"Whatever." I said as I got out with my back pack and slammed the car door shut. Like hell would I be nice to him after just ten minutes of silence, and I started off in the direction of our house.

I know Itachi waited until I turned the corner before he drove off. Sometimes I think he's thinking of ways to just get rid of me and finally have peace in his life. I wonder if he'd send me off to a private school in another country if he had the money. Hell, I think we do, Mom and Dad did leave us enough money for anything. We were a rich family after all.

That's when I noticed Naruto's blonde head walking in front of me. I wanted to ask him why he'd walk by my house, but then I forgot at the moment that he lives just on the other side of the street as I do.

Hissing through my teeth for a second, I thought about calling out to him as he walked through his yard and to his front door.

My mouth was poised open to say his name, until I watched how he unlocked and opened his front door. Why was he being so cautious? Sure his dad was probably home. No, their car was supposed to be broken down, unless his dad got it fixed this morning, which was possibly the case.

I watched the blonde slowly go into the house and quietly closing the door. Probably thought his dad was home sleeping, not wanting to wake him up.

I remember hearing the screams that came from the house, all the arguing, I know that his dad probably beat him up every day. Everyone's used to seeing the blonde come in with scratches and bruises, sometimes broken bones every other week. He always claimed that they were exercise accidents. Like hell does he exercise. I never see him run around the neighborhood to keep in shape. He was always thin and in shape to everyone around him.

That's when someone bumped into me from behind and I almost fell into the street, but I was able to catch my footing and stare at the person that went into me. But it was none other than Naruto's dad.

"Sorry Sasuke." The taller blonde mumbled. That reminded me, I never knew Naruto's dad's name. I bet Itachi does, but I don't feel like asking him any.

Then I heard the screaming. I guess Naruto did something to piss his dad off. But this time, the screaming wasn't as bad as they were last night. Hell, it was like his dad had a vendetta against him yesterday. I could remember how the blonde yelled out in pain for hours. I even went to look into his room through the window after the screaming stopped and his dad left just to see that Naruto was lying on the floor of his bedroom, curled in a ball and crying. It took a lot to make the blonde cry, even if it was pain, and I could then see the bruise on his left shoulder. I knew he was lying this morning when he said it was an accident. But because it's me, I ignored him, didn't bother to go to his front door to see if he was alright because I knew he'd either ignore me or he couldn't hear through the pain throbbing through his entire body. So after seeing how he was doing in secret, I went back to my house and was in side just moments before Itachi drove into the drive way from work.

Right now, there wasn't any yelling coming from Naruto's house, so I figured he was safe, for the time being, and went inside my own home and locked the door behind me.

To be honest, somewhere inside my cold heart, I feel like Naruto's dad wished he was dead. That made me sick to my stomach and just pity over Naruto. I'll have to say something to him tomorrow, if he ever came in. Hell, I have no clue what's even going on over there right now. Maybe I'll go over when it's dark out and see if he's alright. That is if I don't fall asleep before Itachi comes home.


	3. Chapter 3 Naruto

Authors' Note; Sorry for the late update! I lost my laptop charger and it took me all weekend to find it in the black hole called the bedroom! Well, any who, here's the update you've all been promised.

Naruto; You made me into such a wuss! And why in the hell is my father such an ass?

Me: Because, that's part of the story, this is just fan fiction. I love your father! Really! It's just for the story! I swear!

Sasuke; It looks to me like you've got a vendetta against the man, but whatever.

Me; Cold hearted bastard -mumbles-

Naruto; He's not the one that's making my father an ass you cold hearted -

Me; -clamps a hand over Naruto's mouth- on with the story -insert smile here!-

Author's Note 2; This is a re-upload. I did some editing because I didn't realize I somehow switched from first to third in one of my paragraphs. I still don't know how that happened ... But any who, here's the edited chapter!

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Naruto**_

The next morning, when I woke up, the house was quiet. I don't remember if I heard Dad come home at all, I was asleep by nine from mental exhaustion thanks to my homework. But I managed to get it all done, even the summary I needed to turn in was done. Lucky me, I guess.

But considering last nights events, it hurt just to move my arms, hell, my whole body hurt! I had to bite my tongue from crying out in pain when I forced myself up into a sitting position.

"God damn it." I hissed when I tried to stretch and stand up.

When I looked at my alarm clock, I was running half an hour behind. Great, just my damn luck.

"Hey, Naruto, I hope you're up because I'm coming in." My Dad's voice rang through the door before it opened. I didn't have enough time to put on a facade before he looked at me with concern. "Is everything okay?"

"Yea, just sore." I said, then smiling all though it was fake, and I think he knew it.

"Naruto, I'm the one that started the fake smile routine, and you seemed to have gotten it from me." Dad said as he crossed his arms. That's when I got a good look at him, he was sober and had a shower already. I guess Tsunade talked more sense into the man last night.

"It's nothing a good stretch won't cure, besides, I have school and I'm probably going to be late." I said. Hoping he'd believe me this time. Hell, I hoped I believed myself at least.

"Alright, well go take a hot shower. That might help your muscles relax." Dad suggested.

I only nodded and forced myself up to my feet and limped my way to the bathroom and turned the shower water on. I hoped this would work, because if it didn't, my day was screwed. Hell, I don't even know how I can carry my back pack today without it hurting so much.

"Naruto, I'm calling the school, you're going to be late today. Tsunade's on her way over." Dad's voice said through the bathroom door, and I wanted to whine and pout, but then when I looked in the mirror, I saw that I had slept with no shirt on and Dad must have seen my back. But, it couldn't have been that bad, could it?

"Why is she coming over?" I asked, confused until I looked at my back in the mirror. And to my shock, I had a triangular indent in the middle of my back that seemed to have broken skin, it was black in the middle, with blue on the outside and a yellow outside that. Damn, I hit my desk that hard?

"She's looking at your back." He said, and I didn't have to doubt him. My back looked nasty, and so did my shoulder. You could see the outline of the crow bar I was hit with two nights ago still.

"Okay, I'll be done with my shower in a few." I told him and took the rest of my clothes off and climbed into the shower. Granted, the warm water felt great, but once it hit my back all I wanted to do was scream. But I forced myself to ignore the pain as I washed myself up, forgetting about washing my back on purpose and stood facing the water to wash my hair while bent over. I didn't want the shampoo getting into the sore on my back. That'd hurt more than the wound being inflicted. I learned that the hard way as well.

Anyway, with my shower done, I decided to stand in the water and let it wash away a little bit more of my pain before I decided it was time to get out and I gently dried myself off everywhere. With the fact that I walked home yesterday … seven miles … my legs were more sore than I thought they would be.

"Hey, Naruto, Tsunade's here. I put some boxers and a pair of night pants out by the door for you." Dad's voice said through the door.

"Thanks Dad." I said, and I sounded tired. Hell, I sounded like I didn't sleep at all last night. But whatever, as soon as Tsunade was done I was going to get dressed and have Dad drive me to school. I don't think I'd be able to walk and be there on time.

"Hurry up gaki! I'm late to the school myself." Tsunade's voice boomed through the house, making me hurry up faster than my body wanted him to because it sent painful spasms through my whole body when I stopped in the living room with my night pants on and no shirt. "Damn gaki, what happened to you?"

"Tsunade … it's all my fault." Dad said before I could answer, and I regretted not talking faster.

"No it isn't Dad." I said, hoping he would drop it. "I fell in my room and landed on the corner of my dresser. I failed at a back flip in the air." I hoped my lie was believable.

"Let me look at your back." Tsunade sighed, not knowing who to believe at the moment. I don't blame her either, but as I turned around to show her my back, I could hear her gasp so loud that I could have sworn she couldn't breathe afterwords.

"What the hell Minato!" She swore, and she never swears.

"I told her last night Naruto … so stop lying for me starting today." My Dad sighed heavily. Fuck, if I knew he told her already, I wouldn't have lied in the first place.

Curses running through my mind, Tsunade immediately had me lay on my stomach on the couch while she had Dad grab a chair from the kitchen. That's when I realized how clean that house looked. Yea, I did keep the house moderately clean, but it looked cleaner than I had it the last time I cleaned thoroughly. Dad must have cleaned when he got home last night.

"Gaki, is this the exercise wound you told me about yesterday?" Tsunade asked as she prodded my left shoulder, making me wince and hold back a groan of discomfort. "Minato, you did this one too?"

"Yea …" Dad sighed heavily.

"Goddamn it Dad, no you didn't." I protested.

"I hope you know, Minato, that I can call children services and have him taken away from you." Tsunade said under her breath. "This is child abuse."

"I know, and I'm trying to make it right. Believe me when I say Naruto and I were crying on each others' shoulders for hours last night." Dad said.

"You did most of the crying otoo-san." I laughed, then wish I hadn't.

"Well, either way Naruto, it might be best if you weren't here until your father got his act together." Tsunade sighed.

"That's where you're wrong!" I almost yelled. "What good will healing do if someone isn't there to give you support?"

"I know you want to be here with your dad, Naruto, but just maybe not full time." Tsunade suggested.

"No, that's the same as not being here at all. Please don't call them Tsunade-baa-chan." I begged, and I sounded pathetic. "Please."

"Fine." Tsunade hissed. "Minato, if I see this child hurt by your hand again, I'm calling children services. And that's not a threat, that's a damn promise." She added, at least she listened to me.

"I'm grateful to you Tsunade." My Dad mumbled. I could tell he felt troubled by her promise, but somehow I knew he meant what he said.

"I think you should go to the hospital for a couple x-rays, Naruto. It looks like something might have fractured from how it's swollen and bruised. And I don't like how this lesion looks." Tsunade said, and I frowned in disapproval.

"I can't miss school Tsunade-baa-chan." I argued.

"None of that now, you could have been seriously hurt." Tsunade yelled.

"I'll take him, you have to get to school." Dad said, and I wanted nothing more than to just stay home. I hated going to the hospital, the smell in those buildings was nauseating.

"Alright, I'll be by after school to see how he is doing. Call the school before two if you're still there." Tsunade sighed as she got up and took my Dad aside. Probably to talk about something so I wouldn't hear them, because they went into the kitchen and were doing a pretty good job making sure I couldn't hear them.

Sighing, I forced myself up and into a sitting position on the couch. It hurt like hell just sitting here like this at all.

"Okay, Naruto, I'm going to go on ahead and leave. Your father is going to be reporting to me your situation when you get your x-rays done. I hope nothing damaging was done." She said, sighing at the end, and I was right along with her. I hope nothing damaging was done either.

"Okay, Tsunade-baa-chan." I nodded, which seemed to make me hurt even more, but I could bare with it a little longer.

"Alright, if nothing is totally wrong, have him come to school. I'll have it ready so he won't have to carry anything today." Tsunade said when Dad came back into the room.

"Sure, Tsunade." He nodded, and Tsunade said her good byes and left without saying anything else. Hell, I think she's completely pissed off at my Dad, I wouldn't blame her either.

"Okay, I'll go get your shirt and we can go." Dad said with a heavy sigh.

"I need my book, the library book that's on the night stand by my bed." I told him as I tried to get up, but only fell back onto the couch shivering with pain all over.

"I'll get it, and you're wearing sandals today." He said before he went to my room to get the things we talked about, coming back to the living room with a black t-shirt and helped me put it on after putting the book on the arm of the couch.

"What class is this book for?" Dad asked with a confused look on his face.

"It's my book report that's due in two weeks. I got a lot of reading to do. Oh, I need my notebook and pen. He wants us to write two to three paragraph summaries every five stupid chapters." I said, completely forgetting that until the last second.

"I'll go get the notebook, it was sitting underneath this book right?" Dad asked.

"Yea, and I'll have my shoes on by the time you come back out here." I nodded as he helped me stand up. I grabbed the book off the arm of the chair before he could and he could only sigh as he went to my room as I walked to the front door and slid my feet into my sandals. That got me thinking … how in the hell am I going to ride twenty minutes to an hour in a car?

"Okay, I got your homework, now lets go, go, go." Dad said, and he had an unusual skip to his step, it was a little creepy because I've never seen him this happy. But I have to get used to it, because this is what I've been asking for, for my entire life.


	4. Chapter 4 Sasuke

Author's Note; I'm truly sorry for the major mistake I had in the last chapter ... I'm still puzzled on how that actually happened .. Well, anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this one! I sure as hell couldn't stop laughing xD

Sasuke; You fucking ... I can't believe you did that to me!

Me: Sourpuss!

Naruto: -Can't stop laughing-

Sasuke; Goddamn it Naruto, stop laughing! -is ready to kill someone-

Me: Come on Sasuke, at least it's comical -smirking- And there isn't any harm being done ... in a way. Now, on with the chapter before you speak further teme!

_**Chapter 4**_

_**Sasuke**_

I hate mornings, but I get up early anyway. My usual wake up time is five in the morning and I lay there in bed for an hour before I even think about getting ready for school. I don't have to take showers because I take them before bed, so all I had to do was get dressed and grab my stuff and I was ready to go. But this morning, something was bothering me. I fell asleep before I got the chance to check up on Naruto and I was getting a bad feeling about his well being. Something I never care about.

"Sasuke, you have ten minutes to come out of your room ready to go or I'm leaving your ass here." Itachi's voice rang down the hall to my room.

He worked two, sometimes three jobs during the week, and today he was working at his first and second job. He only had to work third shift at his third job three days a week, so he timed it so his other two jobs were on the other four days.

Sighing, I got up out of bed and quickly changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and a black tank top that I wore underneath a black and red plaid shirt that I left unbuttoned today. It seemed like it was going to be a hot day today, it was early September after all, it didn't get cold here in Konoha until late October.

"I'll be outside waiting." I told Itachi, who was finishing probably his second pot of coffee on the couch in front of the television.

"Alright, I'll finish this up and be right out." Itachi said, I could tell he was tired. Hell, I might grow some wings and tell him to take a month off of work from all three of his jobs. But this was his choice, not mine, if he wanted a vacation, he'd ask for it on his own.

Sighing, I went outside and closed the door, sitting on our front step waiting for Itachi and I saw Naruto coming out of his house with his dad. Hell, Naruto was using his father as a crutch. And I could feel my anger boiling every step they took.

"Dad! Don't touch me there, please!" Naruto's yell rang from across the street as they stopped.

"I'm sorry, I don't know how else to keep you up." His dad groaned from underneath Naruto's weight. Hell, the blonde couldn't be that heavy, could he?

"Well we're almost there, and we're past the steps now so I should be able to walk on my own from here." Naruto said just loud enough for me to hear and the next thing I knew, I was on my feet, back pack left on our front steps and I was walking through Naruto's yard pissed off and the next second I blinked, I found myself punching Naruto's dad in the face when his father had let Naruto take a few steps on his own.

"What the hell is your problem old man? I might not have parents but I know what the fuck you do to him all the time! I'm not fucking deaf!" I found myself screaming at the older and taller blonde, who was now getting back up on his feet wiping blood off his chin. He looked shocked, and I was glad.

"Sasuke! Get your ass back over here right now!" Itachi's voice yelled over to me from our front porch, but I ignored him.

"So what did you do to your son this time? He can barely stand as it is." I asked, still yelling. Hell, I didn't care if half the neighborhood heard me.

"It's none of your business Sasuke, now leave us alone before I get really pissed off." Naruto hissed to my right.

"How could you be so forgiving of this jackass after beating you to a bloody ass pulp two nights ago and leave you on the floor in a mess?" I asked him, he was such a stupid and confusing human being that needed some reality check.

"Because I love my father and I, for one, know what he's been going through. Now, if you don't leave I'll kick your ass when I'm better and I won't be giving you any damn mercy." Naruto growled at me as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I said it's time to go Sasuke." Itachi hissed into my ear. "I'm so sorry Minato, I really don't know what Sasuke's problem is anymore."

"No need to apologize Itachi, I deserve much more than that, I know, but I really need to get Naruto to the hospital." Naruto's dad said. So that's his name … stupid ass name.

"Okay, and I hope you feel better Naruto." Itachi said as he then turned around and pulled me back to our yard. I wanted to fight him back, but Naruto's words still rung a nasty ring in my ears, and it just pissed me off even more.

"Hey, gaki, what the hell is your problem? You had no right to go over there and hit Minato like that." Itachi growled at me as the two of us got into the car, Itachi throwing my back pack at me before I climbed into the front seat and buckled up. I wasn't in the mood for him right now.

"I asked you a question, now if you want to be in even bigger trouble, you better answer me." Itachi yelled as he slammed on the brakes. God, I didn't think he was this pissed off.

"Naruto's been abused by him, okay!" I finally screamed back. "I've seen it happen! Naruto's never told anyone and lied about his pain for years and I just couldn't take it anymore!"

"Sasuke …" Itachi whispered.

"I fell asleep last night before I could go check on him, and this morning when I woke up all I could feel was dread and think that he could probably be dead. Two nights ago that man went after him with a crow bar. I saw the bruises and matched them with the crowbar that his dad threw out before he stormed off to another bar. I know he drinks like there's no tomorrow." I said, not knowing when to stop, mostly because I didn't realize how loud I was yelling and the fact that I had tears falling down my face. Getting my shirt wet and I didn't care as I buried my face in my hands, I didn't realize how much I was shaking until now. "How can a parent do this shit to their own children?"

"I don't know Sasuke, but Minato's been having it really hard since his wife died giving birth to Naruto sixteen years ago. Every year he's reminded how much he's lost, and he just can't see how much he's gained from it either. That's what depression does to you, it makes you blind to what you have even if it punches you in the face." Itachi explained as he hugged me after putting the car in park. "But this morning, I think Minato's finally realized what he has in front of him, I think."

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"Remember when he said 'I deserve much more than that' those are the words of a man that's finally opened his eyes, don't you think?" Itachi said, but it sounded like a bunch of bullshit to me.

It took me forever to stop crying and for Itachi to let me go and get the car moving to take me to school. I was going to be five minutes late, but I didn't care. Hell, for once, I wanted to stay home and just go back to bed.

"Hey, don't think you're out of getting punished either." Itachi said after a few more moments of silence between us.

"What do you mean?"

"You still hit Minato, and you shouldn't have." Itachi answered. "And your punishment, is that once Naruto's better, you're taking him to the movies and you're not allowed home until midnight."

"What kind of punishment is that?" I asked as I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You're the anti-social nutcase of school. You're going to spend time with someone and be around people. That, is your punishment little gaki." Itachi said, and I could tell he was going to have fun with this.

"That's so unfair." I huffed and crossed my arms.

"Hey, I refrained from hitting you back there." Itachi said. "I was so ready to smack you so hard you lost a tooth, but I didn't."

"Maybe you should have."

"Don't tempt me." Itachi threatened, and I became silent until we got to school. That's when I realized that this is my tenth time being tardy … Itachi is so going to be giving me trouble when Tsunade talks to him. Fucking hell.

"Sasuke … you are fucking dead!" Itachi yelled after Shizune, Tsunade's secretary, told him how many times I was tardy, and also had to add to the fact that I've even skipped a couple of classes while I was at it. Great, now I'm really in for it.

"Please, Itachi, watch your language, you are in a school after all." Shizune whispered.

"Oh please, Tsunade uses worse." Itachi laughed. "And you know I'm right."

"Yes, but, please. She's already in a bad mood this morning as it is." Shizune said.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She went to check up on Naruto this morning. I don't know what all happened, but it was enough to set her on edge and has already given five couples out of school suspension for PDA." Shizune said, her voice low enough so only the two of us could hear her.

"And Sasuke gets five days ALC for being tardy eleven times and skipping class!" Tsunade yelled from her office before the door banged open.

"I already punched Naruto's dad and got grounded from that, do I really need ALC on top of it?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, you're … you did what?" Tsunade started saying, until the look on her face calmed down a bit and stared at me like I was nuts or something.

"Yes, he stormed over to Naruto's place and punched his dad in the face so hard he fell to the ground and his mouth bled." Itachi sighed. "I've already got him grounded for that."

"And what was his punishment?" Tsunade asked, and I could tell right then and there, that her and Itachi were going to put their punishments together to make my life a living hell.

"He has to be as social as possible. And he's gotta do this for a month." Itachi said.

"What!? You never said it had to be that long you asshole!" I yelled.

"Well then, I think I can make it better." Tsunade grinned, and I felt like an ant for the first time in my life in a long ass time. "Sasuke, as of right now, you're signed up for after school activities, and I think the best one for you is the Drama club. You are to go there right after school every day for the entire month you're' grounded."

"Oh, my God!" I yelled. "I hate you all!" And I ran out of the room and to my first class without a pass. I didn't care if I got into more trouble, I just wanted to be out of the room and away from the room of morons.


	5. Chapter 5 Naruto

Surprise! Double update for this chapter is so short, and 2 days early because this ... cliff hanger updating is driving me insane and I think about updating every day. But, I've now changed my mind and will update every other day :)

Naruto; You're so evil to me!

Sasuke; Not as evil as what she did to me!

Me; Hell, Sasuke, someone mentioned to me to have you run for student counsel president ... -crosses arms as she taps her right shoe on the floor in impatience.-

Sasuke; ALRIGHT! PLEASE DON'T DO THAT TO ME!

Me; Then respect me -winks- On with the chapters! :D

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Naruto**_

The ride to the hospital felt like eternity. Every bump we passed, every speed adjustment Dad made as he drove, every attempt I made to make the ride more comfortable was nothing but pain and misery. Maybe I should have gone to the hospital in an ambulance, but that would have raised suspicions and Dad would have been in trouble even more with the hospital than with Tsunade.

Hell, the moment a nurse or another doctor would look at my back and they'd be calling children services. I'm not stupid, but I'm sure Tsunade called ahead and told the staff that I'm here because of my stupidity and nothing more.

I only hoped that they'd fall for something like that. But right now, I just wanted someone to hit me so hard I blacked out so I couldn't feel anything anymore. Dying even sounded better than being in pain like this.

"Hold on Naruto, we're almost there. Just one more light and I'll drop you off at the ER doors." Dad said, and I could tell he felt sorry for everything right now. I just prayed that this love and care was genuine and not some hoax to get rid of me.

"I know Dad, I just want this to be done and over with." I said through my teeth as he made the last turn and stopped in front of the hospital. God, the ride of hell was finally over.

"I'm going to go and get someone to help me, you should probably lie down on your stomach instead of sitting up." Dad said, and he read my mind. I wanted to tell him 'fucking hell yes!' but he was already out of the car and going inside on fast feet. I knew he moved fast, but this was fucking ridiculous.

And while I waited, I managed to get the car door open and my feet out while grinding my teeth. Shit, I'm already to the point that I want Tsunade-baa-chan to prod at my back again. That was better than this!

"Naruto! Don't move, please." I heard my Dad say as I heard the door open and some wheels coming towards the car. I was too busy looking down at my feet to see if anyone else was with him, I didn't care anymore.

"Where does it hurt son?" A female voice asked.

"It's my back, I think Tsunade-baa-chan called in, didn't she?" I said.

"You're Naruto then!" She said, probably a little louder than she intended. "That's right, she called half an hour ago."

"It took that long for us to get here?" I whined, my head spinning because of the pain rippling through me each time I tried to move to get up and out of the car.

"May I have a look at your back before we decide how we can get out of the car?" The woman asked.

I only leaned forward as I lifted my shirt with Dad's help and I somewhat felt relief, but I could feel the skin on my back pull and I think I tore the scab that had started forming because I felt something hot dripping from it down my sides.

"Okay, I need some gauze, and we're going to sedate him right here before we move him any further, he'll bleed more either way but at least it won't hurt him too much when we get him out of the car." She said, and I could have agreed more.

"Okay, I'll be right back, and I'll bring out some help too." A male voice said, and I knew it didn't belong to my Dad, so it was probably another ER nurse.

"Dad … I'm tired." I yawned, though it was painful.

"How long has he been in pain?" The woman asked, I wonder if she told Dad her name, because she sure as hell hasn't told it to me.

"He's been up for the last forty five minutes, that I know of. I didn't see him at all last night when I got home so I don't know if he even slept well either." Dad said. I guess they know about my supposed accident.

"I slept better than I thought I did, I slept on my stomach all night." I said, though I don't know if they heard me or not.

"Alright, and when did you wake up this morning?"

"I woke up about five minutes before my Dad knocked on my door. I think it was about six thirty." I answered when I heard some heavy footsteps coming towards us.

"We're here Saiken." The guy from earlier said. I wasn't going to bother looking up to see if others came with him, that'd probably make me move the wrong way and make my scab bleed more. But I couldn't help but wince when I felt pressure on my back because someone was putting some sort of cold cloth down on it.

"It's just cold, wet gauze to help with the bleeding. Luckily it wasn't bleeding much. Now, to make sure, do you want to be put to sleep here or wait until we take you inside and set up?" The woman's voice said, I guess her name is Saiken.

"I can wait." I found myself saying, then I had to mentally kick myself because I have no clue why I said it.

"Alright, well it's going to hurt a bit when we get you out." She said.

"I don't care, the ride here was hell anyway." I sighed heavily and put my hands on the sides of the door frame and forced myself to my feet, no matter how much it hurt until I started swaying and Dad grabbed my bad arm on accident to keep me up on my feet. I winced from the pull, but at least I didn't fall back into the car.

"Alright -" The woman started saying, but I pulled my arm free of Dad's hold and climbed onto the stretcher they brought out and laid down on my stomach. I could tell Dad didn't want me doing this on my own, but at least it was done. But I couldn't understand how I wasn't getting comfortable right now. I was comfortable when Tsunade-baa-chan was looking at my back when I was on the couch. I guess that's how uncomfortable the stretcher was.

"Okay, lets get on inside." She said, and I could tell she was slightly annoyed.

"I'm going to go park the car." I heard dad say before the nurses wheeled me inside and I heard the car doors close.

"Can I fall asleep now?" I asked when the doors open and we were finally inside the hospital.

"Not quite yet, we gotta get you hooked up to some stuff and then you can fall asleep."

At least that's what I thought she said, because her voice was muffled and I couldn't help but fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6 Sasuke

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Sasuke**_

God, I didn't think that lunch would be here sooner or later. It felt like a thousand years before lunch period. And today they were serving something that looked like food, but it actually like someone took a shit and called it food. I hate school food, makes me sick just being here when they're cooking.

"Hey, Sasuke, come sit with us." I heard Temari, a blonde from a year older said as she sat down with her two brothers. Though, if you looked closely, they didn't look like siblings at all.

Sighing, I walked over and sat down next to Gaara, the youngest of the three siblings and leaned down on my elbow while resting my head on my hand. I didn't get anything for lunch, I was too worried about Naruto. If nothing was wrong, he'd be here at the school by now from the hospital. And the vibes I was getting from Gaara, he knew something was wrong, but I couldn't tell him. He'd flip and go psycho on this entire school.

"What's wrong sour puss?" Kankuro, the middle child, asked with a smirk on his face as he shoved his face with the thing called a chicken wing into his mouth.

"Don't call me that, and I'm worried about Naruto, if you want to know." I sighed, now wishing I didn't say anything.

"Why? Isn't he always hurting himself doing something?" Temari shrugged as she started picking at her food. At least she got something that looked edible; aka salad.

"I guess he decided to try a new martial arts move in his room last night that calls for you to jump up and flip backwards in the air … and landed in the middle of his back on the corner of his dresser." I said, remembering I heard Tsunade talking to our first period teacher, Iruka, when I walked by her office. God that's such a horrible ass lie, at least I'm the only one that knows the truth around here besides her.

"Damn, he could have broken his back." Kankuro hissed.

"He was walking this morning when we were leaving, so his back might not be broken." I said with a shrug, my stomach flipping backwards just at the thought of it being possible.

"Well, don't worry over it okay? It will make you sick." Temari said after a few moments of silence, and she was right. Every time I worried about the blonde, I ended up so sick to my stomach I had to puke even when I ate or drank nothing, and I was getting close to the urge to puke already.

"You're right … I guess …" I sighed and leaned forward, resting my head on the table as I groaned.

"You should go home, that might be good for you to get out of here for a while, relax a bit. Your nerves are just about pushed past there limit." Gaara finally said after a long while. "I'm sure Tsunade-sama would let you."

"Yea, she would." I nodded. "Ya know what, I think I'll take up that offer. I'll see you guys tomorrow." I added when my stomach lurched because my worry over Naruto hadn't stopped.

"Okay, feel better Sasuke." Temari and Kankuro said as I stood up and left the cafeteria, shouldering my backpack as I headed off to the office.

I nearly took my time getting there, but if I wanted to go home before lunch was over, I hurried the last few doors to the office and walked in to find Shizune on the phone with someone. I wanted to believe it was Naruto's dad calling in, but I was getting my hopes up for something that probably happened hours ago and sat down in front of her desk, waiting patiently until she was done with her phone call. I wonder if I look sick enough to my stomach to go home.

"Okay, thanks Minato, for calling. I hope everything gets better for Naruto. I'll also have his homework for the next two weeks ready to be picked up when school is let out." Shizune, hell my instincts are good. "Okay, bye."

"So, how's Naruto?" I asked when she hung the phone up.

"He's not doing good, but that's all I can say right now. Tsunade's leaving the moment school is out to go and see him." She said, and I could tell she could have told me, but it honestly isn't any of my business.

"Okay, and I'm here to go home, I'm not feeling too good today." I told her with a small sigh.

"Yea, you look a little pale. Your stomach bothering you?" She asked.

I only nodded when I felt my stomach lurch again and this time I couldn't keep myself from feeling the bile coming up my throat as I reached for the trash can and emptied my already empty stomach into the pail.

"Yea, you can go home Sasuke. You know the procedure, your absence will be counted as an unexcused unless you come in with a doctors' note." Shizune said as she reached into her desk and pulled out the sign up folder.

I nodded again, half afraid that if I spoke I'd empty my stomach again into the trash can and signed myself out. I took the liberty of taking the garbage bag out myself and tied it shut. I knew Shizune would call the janitor the moment I walked out to get the bag and spray the can before putting a new bag into it, so I left it tied in the can when I got up, waving as I used my free hand to get my cell phone out and called my brother. I didn't have a car yet, and I could walk home if I wanted. But I wanted to go and see Naruto before I headed home, so Itachi, and his car, were needed this time.

"What's wrong? I thought I told you not to use your phone during school hours." Itachi's tired voice said into the phone and made me regret calling him.

"I'm going home sick, but I want to visit Naruto before going home, can you come pick me up at the library? I'm walking there now." I told him. I wasn't in the mood for him to get on my nerves right now. And he was doing a great job.

"Yea, I'll be there when you get there. I'm on lunch break right now so we don't have long at the hospital. And I swear, if you attack Minato like you did this morning, I'm going to lock you in your room until I get home tonight." Itachi said into the phone, and I could tell that he was driving. It had taken me a moment to realize that. I must be ill.

"Okay, I get it, see you in a few." I sighed, hanging up before I decided I wanted to argue, and quickened my pace towards the library, though the speed increase wasn't much. I still got there just as Itachi drove into the parking lot of the library and climbed into the car when it stopped moving.

"You really do look like shit." Itachi commented, and all I could do was groan.

"Shut up." I sighed. "Lets get this done and over with so I can go home and lay down."

Itachi only nodded as he got the car into drive and started off in the direction of the hospital.

"So, do you know what got you sick this time?" Itachi asked to break the silence that was looming over the two of us. I guess he didn't like how quiet it was because I was about to fall asleep.

"Nerves." Was all I said, and hoped he'd leave it at that.

"You're that worried about Naruto?" He asked, and he sounded shocked that'd I'd worry myself over someone besides myself. Bastard.

"Yes, is it that hard to admit that I'm worried about the stupid idiot?" I asked.

"No, but it is a little weird." He had to say, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him and stare out my window, wishing he'd be quiet until we got there.

And he was, for once. I never heard my brother be so quiet on a car ride before. I guess he realized how uneasy I really was and when he parked the car in the garage, I couldn't help but noticed how empty it looked for it being during the day. That was until I realized how high in the garage we really were and wished I didn't look.

"Over here Sasuke." I heard Itachi call out to me in the opposite direction and I quickly went over to where he was and climbed into the elevator he had ready by the time I got over to him. "I'm hoping it won't take long to find him. Since he's probably not in the ER department anymore, we need to go to the main desk and ask if they could possibly let us know where he is. I saw Minato's car, so I know he's still here. And if we find him, then that's good luck for the two of us."

"Lets find Naruto's dad first, that might be the best way to go. Main desk knows nothing about patient whereabouts." I sighed, wishing we didn't have to as the two of us got off the elevator, I already forgot what floor of the garage we parked on.

"Well, well, we don't have to look far." Itachi hummed, and I didn't know what he was talking about until we saw Minato sitting on a bench by the entrance. From where I stood, it looked like he was sleeping because his eyes were closed.

Not wanting to say anything because I felt that if I did, I'd say something I might regret later, and followed Itachi over to where Minato was and stood a good few feet away from him.

"Hey, Minato, mind if we sit with you?" Itachi asked softly. Why the fuck is he being so nice to the bastard in the first place?

"Sure." Minato mumbled as he scooted over towards his left, leaving the rest of the bench for Itachi and me, and I made sure that Itachi was in the middle. I didn't want to talk to him, Itachi did.

"Thank you." Itachi said, for both of us, when the two of us settled on the bench. "So, how's Naruto?"

"Well, the last time I saw him, he was sleeping in a room. He got his x-rays and there's two spinal disks fractured. Mostly it's just really bad bruising and then there's where the skin broke that got stitched. But other than that, when he wakes up he can go home. But I don't think he'll wake up until tomorrow. He's been out of it since we got here." The man said, and just hearing how bad Naruto was, made my stomach churn some more and I wanted to vomit again.

"Doesn't sound as bad as it could have been." Itachi said, and I glared at him.

"Yea, right." Minato huffed, that's when I noticed that his eyes were bloodshot and swollen, but I didn't put much thought to it. "He'll have to wear a back brace for a while, no gym, and he can't carry anything that will strain his back."

"That's understandable." Itachi agreed.

"Yea, and Tsunade is coming over in a few hours. I think she was planning on looking over his x-rays herself. I don't remember what she said when I talked to her a few hours ago." Minato said.

"I heard you talking to Shizune when I went to the office to go home." I finally said.

"Yea, I was telling her to tell Tsunade that Naruto might go home and all."

"How are you going to get Naruto home?" Itachi asked, and that was a good question.

"I have no fucking idea how I'm going to get him home. It took us almost forty five minutes to just get here this morning." Minato said, and I could tell he was close to pulling his hair out from frustration and stress.

"We have a slightly higher car, and probably more room than yours does, how about we take Naruto home when he wakes up?" Itachi offered, and I felt the heat in my face slowly grow. God, an Uchiha offering help … Well, might as well start somewhere because I'm going to be offering Naruto help soon too. He'll need it during school anyway.

"I can't bother you guys with our problems." Minato mumbled as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he combed his fingers into his hair.

"It's not a bother Minato." Itachi told him as he put a hand on his back and rubbed it softly. "We're glad to give you guys some help."

"Thanks Itachi, Sasuke." Minato said before someone walked over to us, I'm guessing a nurse by the scrubs she's wearing.

"Minato?" She said, and her voice was soft, silky soft and couldn't help but think about cats.

"Oh, Matatabi, yes?" Minato said, his head shooting straight up as he shot to his feet after a moment when he seemed to remember who she was. "Is something wrong with Naruto?"

"Oh, no, he's awake and is asking for you." She said, I think Minato said her name was Matatabi. Weird ass name.

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes." Minato nodded and the nurse went back inside. "You guys can come on in."

I stood up before Itachi did and followed Minato inside with Itachi just a few feet behind me. I was in a hurry to see how the idiot blonde was myself.

"He's on the third floor, so just follow me and I'll take you to him ." The nurse from a few moments ago said when the three of us reached the elevator.

I only nodded when she pushed the button on the elevator to go up and the doors opened a moment later and the four of us climbed inside.

The ride up to the third floor was awkward, and silent. It was a silence that I didn't like one bit until the doors opened and the nurse and Minato was off before the doors were finished opening.

Itachi and I exchanged looks between the two of us before we climbed out and followed them. And it seemed like Naruto was taken all the way down the hallway, isolated from other patients. But that was my opinion.

"Hey, Naruto, I'm back and brought your father and a couple friends." The nurse said when we reached Naruto's room and to everyone's' shock, he was sitting up and trying to get dressed. "What in the world are you doing Naruto?"

"What does it look like?" He asked, and he didn't look happy for some reason. "I hate this place, I want to go home."

"But Tsunade wants to see you before you go home." The nurse said, and no one could understand why he was upset.

"If I don't go home now, I'm suing this entire damn hospital." Naruto hissed through his teeth, and I could have sworn he would attack someone if they didn't listen to him, even if he was in pain.

"What the hell happened while I was outside Naruto?" Minato asked, and he sounded upset.

"I'll tell you when we get out of this damn place." Naruto threatened as he slid slowly off the hospital bed and slid his feet into the sandals I saw him wearing this morning.

"Naruto, can't you wait another hour or so? It's after one and school is over at two." I said, finally finding my voice because Naruto's sudden outburst of anger had startled me.

"Why are you here Sasuke?" He asked, and he didn't seem happy to see me.

"Well sorry if I wanted to see if you were okay." I huffed and crossed my arms.

"Why bother yourself with me?" Naruto asked, and he seemed confused.

"It doesn't matter, if I stay, and Itachi stays, will you wait here for Tsunade to go over the medical reports?" I suggested, hoping he wouldn't ask me another question about my reasons for being here.

"Since when did the Uchiha care for people other than themselves?" Naruto said with a light laugh, and I could understand where he was getting at, and it stung like a white hot poker being prodded at my throat.

"Look, Naruto, I know you want to go home. Sasuke hates hospitals just as much as you do, but please, think about how mad Tsunade would be if you left before she could help you." Itachi said, and it looked like it worked. But I was puzzled over the fact that Minato didn't say anything, in fact, he couldn't even make eye contact with Naruto.

"Fine, whatever, but I'm not getting back into that hospital gown!" Naruto hissed as he climbed back into bed and laid down on his stomach. That's when I realized the black thing that was around his torso. That must be the brace the nurse mentioned earlier.

"Thank you, and I'll be right back. I need to call in work and tell them I had to stay home with Sasuke, who's sick and should be laying down." Itachi said as he pulled out his cell phone and stepped out into the hallway. I fucked over his work schedule. Oops?

"So, Sasuke, what made you 'sick' and had to leave school early?" Naruto asked when I sat down on the chair by his bed while Minato sat in the one at his feet. He looked unnerved, like something was bothering him, but I let it slide at the moment and looked over at Naruto, who seems to be growing impatient over my silence.

"My stomach is bothering me, is all." I told him, and it wasn't a lie, it was still churning terribly.

"How come I don't believe you?" Naruto asked, making my blood boil.

"Do you think Tsunade would let me leave school early just to see if you're okay?"

"No … I guess you're right." He sighed after a few minutes of silence as I watched him close his eyes.

It took a while, but his breathing had started slowing down a bit and that's when I realized he fell asleep, and realized that Itachi was taking forever to get back into the room, but I refused to let myself leave because I didn't want to leave Naruto alone with his father. I will never trust that man, no matter how far I threw him away from his own son and myself.

"Okay, it took me a little while to convince my boss that Sasuke was sick, but he let me take the rest of the day off." Itachi said when he got back into the room and I glared at him while putting a finger to my lips telling him to be quiet.

He nodded and slid his way past Minato and the foot of Naruto's bed and sat down in the window sill. At the moment, I honestly wish I knew what was on my brothers' mind for a change, and read his blank, emotionless facial expressions.


	7. Chapter 7 Naruto

Author's Note; Here's another update people! :D I just hope no one hates me for this chapter -inwardly begs for people not to hate her-

Naruto: I hate you!

Me: I'm sorry! D: It's part of the plot! Honest! D: -cries silently-

Naruto; I don't care! -pouts-

_**Chapter 7**_

_**Naruto**_

"_I said I don't want to be around you creeps." I said as I glared at a couple of high school kids that decided to skip school. I was skipping classes too, only because I didn't want the other kids picking on me because of my bruises I always went to school with. Last night Dad was in another drunken rage and beat me up before he tied me up and threw me into our bath tub that was filled with ice cold water for half an hour so he didn't have to look at me while he went to the store and buy even more booze. Like he needed more of it. I'm still cold from that bath._

_ "Does it look like we care?" The tallest one of the three smirked before he looked to the guy on his left, then hi right. "Minari, Sanju, how about we show this little brat what the big kids do to those who need to be taught who's boss?"_

_ "Why not Yaguro? We have two hours before we go back." The one on his left said and I only glared as I turned on my heels and ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction, but I only managed to go a few yards before I was suddenly grabbed and pulled back by my hair. I couldn't help but yell out in pain before a piece of cloth was tied over my mouth. I somehow managed to kick one of them in the balls before they tied my hands and feet together._

_ "Should we blind fold him too?" The other one asked._

_ "No Sanju, we want him to see his punishment." The guy that first talked said, and I'm going to guess his name is Yaguro from what the other guy said. "Minari, you get the front, Sanju and I will take the back."_

_ I could wildly guess what they were talking about, but I still couldn't stop myself from trying to back away from the three when the guy named Minari started undoing his slacks. I knew there were tears falling from my eyes, especially when he pulled out his penis and ripped the cloth out of my mouth. I took the moment to scream at the top of my lungs for help before everything around me went black._

"Hey, Naruto, wake up. Wake up damn it." I heard a familiar voice yell over mine. It wasn't until then that I was being shaken and screaming the words 'get off me' until I felt a smack on my face and my eyes finally opened. Finding me staring at Sasuke, Itachi and my Dad, all three of them looking at me with shocked faces. I didn't realize that I was breathing so hard until I found myself holding my breath, releasing it shakily and just prayed that I didn't have tears falling down my face.

"Who smacked me?" Were the first few words that came out of my mouth, trying to not get them to ask me what I was dreaming about.

"I did, you were screaming at the top of your lungs moron." Sasuke said, and I only glared at him, though I was grateful for him waking me up. "What were you dreaming about anyway?"

"It's none of your concern. It was just a nightmare, that's all." I told him. But I didn't think that I'd have that memory first when I saw the bastards face waltz right into my room when Dad left. Why would Yaguro work here when he hated being around people? It's beyond me.

"It is, because we're all worried about you." Itachi said, instantly making me feel guilty, but remembering Yaguro's words from earlier when he walked in, made me think twice about telling them anything.

"I'm fine, it's normal to have nightmares, right?" I said nervously, though there was some hints to confidence and it seemed to have worked because they all sighed and left me alone.

"Tsunade's looking over your x-rays right now as we speak. The nurse who was in here about ten minutes ago said she'll be in as soon as she's done. Which should be any minute." My Dad said, reminding me that we all still had yet to hear the wrath of baa-chan when she finds out the damage.

"And you're right with that Minato, and I should bash your head in." She said the second the door was opened and closed once she was inside. I know she hadn't looked into the room yet, because I know she wouldn't have said that if she knew Itachi and Sasuke were in here.

"Hello Tsunade-sama." Itachi's voice spoke before Dad or I could say anything.

"Oh, you two are still here?" She asked, now wishing she didn't say what she said a moment ago, I could tell by the look on her face.

"Don't worry about it Tsunade-baa-chan, they know everything. Sasuke's not that stupid." I sighed heavily, forcing myself up on my hands as I went into a sitting position on the bed so I could see her better.

"Stop moving Naruto." Tsunade said once I was already in the position I wanted to be in, and blinked at her in confusion.

"Why, Tsunade?" Itachi asked, and I felt hurt as to why Dad didn't ask instead.

"Because, the breaks in his two spinal disks are webbed and could chip away and damage his spinal cord if he moves too much." Tsunade explained.

"That's fucking bullshit." I said before I realized what words flew from my mouth, but I couldn't get myself to believe the words coming from her mouth.

"Watch your mouth Naruto." My Dad's voice rang into my ear, I could feel Sasuke's and Itachi's eyes boring into me while Tsunade just stood there trying to comprehend what I was saying.

"It's not bullshit, Naruto, you've seen the x-rays. They're clear as crystal and obvious!" Tsunade yelled, throwing the x-rays in my face, meaning for me to catch them, but I let them fall to the ground because I didn't want the truth to sink in.

"Can I be left alone?" I found myself asking after the whole room was quiet for a moment.

"Five minutes, and we'll be in the hallway." Tsunade said and she pulled my Dad out by his hair while Itachi followed, Sasuke just looked at me before he followed them a moment later and closed the door behind him.

I could tell Tsunade-baa-chan was angry with Dad, but knowing how bad the situation is, she's going to ring him a new one in some private room where no one could hear them argue. Knowing Sasuke and Itachi, they'd stand by the door to make sure I wouldn't leave to go on a walk, but I knew of a way to get rid of them.

Sighing, I forced myself off the bed and wobbled my way over to the door, though I wished I didn't slam into the door like I did.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke's voice echoed in my ears when the door opened and I managed to gather my footing before I fell over.

"I'm trying to go take a piss, is it so hard to get a little privacy?" I barked, knowing I'm lying, but I'm hoping I'm convincing them to do something for me. "And while you're annoying the crap out of me, can you two go to the cafeteria and get me something to eat?"

"What would you like?" Itachi asked, his head poking around the door frame to look at me. He looked bored as fucking hell.

"Anything, I don't care what it is." I told him. "And I want soda and coffee to drink."

"You'll be getting water and tea, soda and coffee won't help with your healing." Itachi sighed. "Come on Sasuke."

"Wait, we both can't go." Sasuke argued.

"I need help bringing up his food and drinks." He said.

"Whatever." Sasuke hissed. "Naruto, if you leave this room while we're gone, I'll kick your ass when you're better." He warned, and the two were walking down the hall within a moment after Sasuke got done glaring at me, trying to sink his warning into me so I would listen.

Like hell would I listen. I waited until I knew that they were gone from the hallway and down the elevator before I limped out of my room and made my way to tour the hallway for a few minutes. I'd be able to tour around and get back to my room before Tsunade-baa-chan and Dad came back. So she'd have no reason to pour salt on my wounds about how dangerous this could possibly, like I'd listen to her either. There's no way my back is that damaged from just a simple ass kick and getting hit with the corner of a stupid dresser. There's no way possible that could happen!

"Naruto! What are you doing out of your room!?" Tsunade's voice boomed into the hallway from behind me. Shit, I didn't know she was in one of the unoccupied rooms up here.

"I needed to move around, I hate being still!" I defended myself.

"Where in the hell are Sasuke and Itachi?" She yelled, still.

"I sent them to the cafeteria to get me something to eat and drink." I said, glaring at her because I feel like she shouldn't have to keep yelling at me like she is.

"And you can stop yelling at me, I'll go back to my room, just give me a few moments." I hissed.

"I don't think so. Matatabi!" Tsunade said, yelling on the top of her lungs again as the woman that brought Dad back up to my room ran up to us.

"Yes Tsunade-sama?" She asked, huffing from the distance she had to run to get here.

"Get this damn gaki a chair and get him back to his room now." Tsunade ordered and Matatabi nodded with a 'yes ma'am' and rushed off back to the desk area where the wheelchairs were usually kept on this floor. God, I just wanna go home.

"Who is his nurse right now?" Tsunade asked as Dad and Matatabi helped me sit down as comfortable as I could in the wheelchair before the two noticed I tensed, visibly, and I waited for someone to speak to get it done and over with.

"His nurse is Yaguro, and he's Naruto's nurse until three in the morning." Matatabi answered, all of us now heading back to my room at the same time, with me being wheeled in first and everyone else filed in after.

I refused to go back into the bed at the moment, so Tsunade let me sit in the chair for a little while longer, I guess she had some stuff to talk to us about. Probably back surgery, and I'm praying it isn't.

"Okay, judging from the web break, you should have surgery." Tsunade said right off the bat. "But, if you listen to every word I tell you exactly for the next two months, Naruto, then you won't have to have back surgery."

"And what is it that I have to do for two months?" I asked with a sarcastic tone in my voice that I honestly didn't want right now.

"No walking, or any physical stress that will stress your back out. That means no martial arts, standing only when you need to, and you're fixed to the wheelchair until I say so. And, every two weeks, you come in for x-rays to see how you're healing." She answered.

"I can't do anything!?" I whined, God, he must be torturing me for something. "I can't do that for that long!"

"Back surgery will keep you bed ridden for three weeks, then it will be months worth of physical therapy. And I mean months, probably a year or so." She told me.

"I'll listen." I mumbled, my head low so no one could see the small tears of defeat hanging in the corners of my eyes. I am being tortured.

"So, you'll stay here for tonight and you can go home in the morning. I don't expect to see you in school until next week." Tsunade sighed, her right foot tapping on the floor with impatience. I guess Shizune-chan is waiting downstairs for her.

Just then, the door opened and Sasuke and his brother, Itachi, walked in with arms filled with drinks and food. And for the first time today, my face beamed as I stared, mouth watering, at the food in Itachi's arms.

"They had miso pork ramen today." Itachi said, and I wanted to jump out of the chair to get it from him. "But first, you have to eat this." He added and Sasuke put down a couple drinks on the table next to the bed and grabbed a salad bowl from Itachi's arms, and I grimaced visibly.

"I hate salad." I pouted.

"You need the vegetables Naruto, eat it or no ramen." Dad and Tsunade said at the same time, and I felt like I was being ganged up on.

"Oh, and no soda until you drink your water and tea." Sasuke said with a smirk that was just asking for me to bash it in.

"First this happens to me, then I get the ass for a nurse, and now you guys torturing me with healthy shit while I'm stuck and unable to bash any of your heads in." I mumbled out loud, though I don't think anyone understood me as I grabbed hand fulls of my hair and pulled on it hard while whining loudly in frustration. "Why can't I just go home!"

"You can go home in the morning, but what makes Yaguro an ass, gaki?" Tsunade asked, great, they did hear me.

"He's just a sore loser every time we see each other." I half lied.

"I'd like to see how, he's our most recommended nurse we got on staff when he's working." Tsunade shrugged, I wanted to glare and tell them the truth, but I knew what would happen to me if I did. I'd never hear the end of it from Yaguro and his friends as long as I lived.

"Well, I'm going to look in on our other patients. I'll stop on by before I leave for the night Naruto." Tsunade said before giving me a soft hug. I hugged her back, but it only made me wish she didn't leave at all. And before I could voice my opinion, she was gone, her heels already clicking away on the linoleum tile down the hall and away from my room. I sighed and dropped my head, frustrated with myself that I couldn't talk her into letting me go home tonight.

"Naruto, I'm going to go home and get some rest okay? I'll be back in a few hours." I heard Dad say, and I felt even more abandoned when he came over to give me a hug.

"No, Dad, you stay at home and get some rest." I found myself saying before I could think. "You're exhausted."

"We'll be here for a while Minato, so it's alright." Itachi said as he took a step forward, his arms already emptied of food. I guess while we were talking when I wasn't paying attention him and Sasuke emptied their arms onto the table.

"Naruto is in good hands Minato." Matatabi said next to me, hell, I thought she left the room already, so I couldn't help but flinch a bit when she talked.

"Okay." Dad said when he finally let me go and ruffled my hair. I glared, because he knew I hated my hair being touched. "See you later Naruto."

"See you in the _morning_ otoo-san." I corrected him with a nod and one of my sly grins.

"Don't give the nurses a hard time." He said before leaving with a small smile and a wave. Yea, he looked exhausted. I hope he drives home okay.

"I'm going to go give Tenshi a call." Itachi said as he left the room pulling his cell phone out.

"Tenshi?" I found myself asking.

"Itachi's boyfriend." Sasuke answered, and I could tell he felt slightly uncomfortable answering.

"B-B-Boyfriend?"

"Yes, my brother is gay, something wrong with that?" Sasuke asked, and I could tell he felt insulted.

"No, nothing wrong with that. I'm a big supporter of that stuff." I said, and honestly telling the truth this time.

Sasuke only shrugged, but I still couldn't get over this uneasy feeling I had in the pit of my stomach, and I was glad that Matatabi was still here.

"Hey, Matatabi, is someone allowed to stay over night with me?" I asked.

"Sure." She said with a smile when I looked up at her.

"Okay, thanks." I smiled back, and I felt some of the uneasiness leave.

"Alright, well, since you don't want in the bed right now. I'm going to go do a round. I'll be back in a little while to check up on you." She said, still with that same smile on her face before she left the room waving.

"Why did you ask her that Naruto?" Sasuke asked when the two of us knew she was gone down the hall, but I didn't know how to tell him why, I only found myself reaching over and grabbed his wrist, though it wasn't tight.

"Sasuke … can you stay here tonight?" I found the words sliding off my tongue faster than I could get myself to think of how I was even going to ask those words.

"I have school in the morning." He said, and I knew he would say that.

"I know, but please, I can't stand it here alone." I said, and I wanted to puke when Yaguro's words repeated in my head from earlier.

_ "I'm going to mess you up tonight gaki, and believe me when I say no one is going to come and help you." He said in my ear so in case someone was by the door and they wouldn't be able to hear him._

_ "Touch me and I'll make sure you're sued." I threatened, though my voice sounded shaky and was in a hoarse whisper._

_ "There won't be any proof of my doing anything." Yaguro chuckled as he brought his right hand up from where it was resting on the back of my left knee under the blanket and slid it up all the way to my ass. He knew I couldn't do sudden movements, or my whole body would go into a spasm of pain, so I couldn't do anything but sit there and feel the violations once again._

"Oi! Dobe! How long are you going to ignore me?" Sasuke's voice rang into my head, though his voice wasn't loud. "Hey, Itachi, can you come here for a minute?"

I didn't realize how bad I was shaking until I felt Sasuke put a hand on my shoulder, and I couldn't keep myself from crying any longer as the tears started to fall down my cheeks. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Please, don't leave me alone here." I found myself begging, and I never beg in front of other people unless it's Dad beating me to a bloody pulp.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" Itachi said as he came back into the room, then I could feel his eyes on me before Sasuke could speak.

"Well, he wants me to stay here with him tonight." Sasuke answered.

"I'll come by to pick you up for school around six thirty." Itachi said, and I felt grateful for the older Uchiha. "And since I don't have work tonight, Tenshi and I are going to dinner and a movie."

"Have fun." Sasuke said, and he sounded annoyed, God, I hope I wasn't annoying him with this request. He has a life too and I just took him away from whatever he had planned. Some friend I am.

"We will. Call if you need anything from the house, okay Sasuke?" Itachi said, and I didn't hear Sasuke give a reply before Itachi walked off down the hall.


	8. Chapter 8 Sasuke

Author's Note; Heeeeey everyone! Here's another update :) I hope everyone's liking this so far!

Sasuke; You have to be a sadist ...

Me; No I'm not, it's the plot that's a sadist! -gives her brother innocent eyes-

Naruto; You're making me regret living! D:

Me; It gets better, I swear!

Sasuke; You're not my sister you sadist! ... Damn it, you are just like Itachi!

Me; Hence forth, I'm your sister! -winks- And Ita-otouto learned a lot of the torturous ways he's used on you from me. Remember that!

Itachi; She's right otouto. -Smirking-

Sasuke; You've got to be kidding me!

_**Chapter 8**_

_**Sasuke**_

I could tell something was wrong with Naruto, he didn't have to say anything, it was the fact of how he kept reacting when the mention of his nurse came up when Itachi and I came back to his room. Calling him an ass, meant that Naruto didn't like him one bit. Naruto isn't someone to call another person an ass unless he knew they deserved that title. And when the dobe asked me to stay the night with him, that made me wonder what the nurse did to make Naruto hate him so much. Sure, I knew Naruto hated hospitals, but he's stayed here over night alone before. Something was up, and I was going to find out before I went to sleep tonight.

"Sasuke, can you help me onto the bed?" Naruto's hoarse voice asked after the two of us sat in the room about an hour after Itachi left on his date.

"Maybe we should have a nurse help." I suggested, and Naruto visibly tensed so much that his knuckles on his clenched fists were turning white.

"No, we can do without the nurse." He said as he put the chair in lock and started getting up before I had time to put my homework away to the side to help him.

"Wait a moment." I said quickly and got to my feet before Naruto could force himself up any more and grabbed him gently under his left arm and helped him up further onto his feet.

"I can walk a few steps to get the chair out of the way." He huffed. I could tell just doing this was taking more effort than he wanted, but not to aggravate the blonde, I let him move on his own the few steps and moved the chair out of his way before he walked back to the bed and climbed in on his own. I could tell that this was going to be a long ass night.

"So, would you like to get some homework done?" I asked him, noticing that there was a book and a notebook in the chair his Dad was sitting.

"I do need to read, but I'm too tired for that right now." He told me, and I could understand the pain he was in.

"Want me to get Matatabi to give you some pain medicine?" I asked.

"As long as it's Matatabi, then I'll accept it." He said, and I could tell he was serious. "But she should be here soon, she said she would."

"If she doesn't show up in an hour, I'm going to go get her okay?" I suggested, and surprised he nodded in agreement.

"Sasuke …" Naruto mumbled as I sat down, and when I looked at him, I was surprised I was able to hear him because he had most of his face in his pillow.

"Hm?"

"Make sure he doesn't come in." Naruto said before he closed his obsidian eyes and drifted off to sleep. I didn't notice, until then, how empty his eyes were.

I waited a moment before I sighed heavily and returned to my homework. "Sure, dobe, I'll make sure he doesn't come in." I said quietly, giving Naruto one more glance before I got busy again.

In all honesty, I was glad that Naruto fell asleep, mostly because I didn't want to hear him complain about the pain, but it was because he looked like he was in less pain when he was asleep than when he was awake. It was like his body automatically shut down and relaxed when he lost consciousness.

Besides, seeing the blonde in no pain was better than seeing him in pain. He was happier too, but I know that it's been a long ass time since anyone's seen him showing his real happiness.

"I'm Naruto's nurse, Yaguro Ishimo, I'm here to see if the gauze on his back needs to be changed." A male's voice said from the door way, and I immediately knew that somehow, he wasn't as good as Tsunade said he was, it was the vibe the man put off when he walked in here. My skin is even crawling.

"Naruto's asleep, come back in later." I said, trying to sound calm and focused, getting a quick glance of the guy before looking back down at my Chemistry homework.

"I'll come back in half an hour, if he's still asleep, he'll have to be woken up so we can change the gauze. If he's still bleeding, he'll need to get his stitches replaced, we also have to make sure he doesn't get an infection." The man said. I know the urgency of getting the dobe's bandages changed and the wound on his back looked at, but he just had the stuff changed a few hours ago. I know personally that they don't need changed that often.

"I'll hold you to your word, half an hour." I said coldly, and he left without another word.

I waited a few more minutes before I knew that the male nurse was gone helping another patient before I looked at Naruto again. To my shock, his eyes were open and there was some actual emotion in his eyes, and I could tell very much that it was fear and anxiety.

"What's wrong dobe?" I asked, wondering if the pain woke him up.

"Matatabi is the only one allowed to touch me!" He hissed, anger now seeping into his eyes as I just stared at him, wondering if I should listen to him or not. "If she isn't here, then Tsunade-baa-chan changes the bandages."

"Why are you so against your nurse helping you?" I asked, hoping he'd tell me.

"I can't tell you, but please, trust me." Was all he said before he turned his head and picked up his book. I guess he doesn't trust me quite enough to not let the nurse in while he's sleeping.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Because … I'll tell you when I go home tomorrow." He mumbled in the beginning, then whispered so low I almost didn't catch what he was saying. But somehow, my gut told me not to acknowledge that he said anything and made a barely visible nod. I don't know what's going up between these two, but I know I'm going to find out about it later.

And as soon as I was going to ask Naruto if he wanted anything, my phone buzzes in my pocket, telling me that I'm getting a few text messages. I wanted to ignore them, but decided against it as I sighed and pulled my phone out, only to see I got a couple texts from Gaara and rose an eyebrow. Gaara never texts unless it's important.

My curiosity getting the best of me, I opened the messages and they're all asking how Naruto was doing, and they're all from the times that school let out. My reception must be that bad in this room. And not to anger the red head any more than he probably was, I decided to step out into the hall and stand by the door way and called him up, figuring that'd be the best way to tell him.

"Why haven't you answered my texts?" Were the first words the red head said into my ear, and I could tell he was livid.

"I just got them all at once, I'm in a hospital, reception is bad here. And I think you should come visit, bring your brother and sister along also." I said, suggesting something that sounded like a great idea.

"I'm on my way over anyway, we're trying to find a parking spot as we're speaking, but it looks like the whole garage is packed and full." Gaara said, and I felt bad for Temari. She hated parking garages, so this actually sounds like a miracle to her.

"Park in the back, tell them Tsunade said you could and that you're seeing Naruto Uzumaki, and I'll give her a quick message." I told him, and hoped it'd work. "Tsunade is like his grandmother and she lets anyone park back there if they're here to see him."

"We'll try, but if it doesn't work, I'm dropping Gaara off and Kankuro and I can see him tomorrow after school." I heard Temari said, I must have been put on speaker a moment ago.

"Alright, see ya." I said before our conversation was over and I walked back into the room and sat down in my chair.

"Who were you talking to?" Naruto asked, curiously wondering if I invited someone he didn't like to come over.

"Gaara and his siblings wanna come and see how you're doing, that's all. I don't think I got anything from Shikamaru, Kiba and Shino yet." I told him, which is true enough. The last thing I got from those three were telling me to get better when I left school.

"Gaara's coming to see me?" Naruto beamed, and when I looked at him, his face lit up so much with excitement his eyes even sparkled. Naruto and Gaara were friends when Gaara and his siblings moved to Konoha last year. And before Naruto had any influence on Gaara and the other two, they were stuck up assholes and Gaara looked like he had a murderous streak on his record.

Even after Naruto talked sense into the three guys, Gaara could still hold that look on his face without any effort, but he at least had a heart now and could be shown as a caring and loving individual. Naruto should become a psychologist.

"Yea, he even got mad at me for not replying to his text messages like he wanted." I said, and I couldn't help but smile when Naruto laughed for the first time since yesterday.

"That's so like Gaara, too bad I don't have a phone so I can talk to everyone." Naruto said, his voice becoming sadder by the time he was done.

"Well, you're birthday is coming up, you might get one." I said.

"No I won't." Naruto said before I could add anything else to what I was saying, and he looked just as depressed as he did two days ago.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because, everything I save up for is taken and spent for bills and stuff." Naruto sighed.

"Wait, your dad doesn't pay the bills? And how in the hell do you pay for them?"

"Dad buys booze, Sasuke, and I work third shift for McDonalds on weekends." He answered, I never knew he had a job. "You guys don't see me because I'm in the back making the food. I asked not to be put on the register because I'd just fuck everything up."

I wanted to retaliate about Naruto having to work so that he and his father could live in the house they're living in now. I was even starting to get pissed off and wanted to throw everything that was around me, until I heard footsteps come up to Naruto's door and someone stand there, the eyes boring into me like daggers and I knew Gaara was already here.

"Temari and Kankuro are coming later, they wouldn't allow us back there to park." Gaara said in his usual soft, low tone, but his gaze softened when he finally looked over at Naruto and I could have sworn he looked worried. "How are you doing Naruto?"

"I'll be fine, just a web fracture in two spinal disks and some stitches, I gotta live in the wheelchair for a few months but other than that, I'm healthy as a horse." Naruto said with his usual toothy grin as he turned his head to look at Gaara. "And I'm not allowed to lay on my back, which sucks ass. Hell, all of it sucks fucking ass."

"Do you know when you're leaving?" Gaara asked when he walked the rest of the way into his room and moved Naruto's notebook off the other chair and sat down, passing me the notebook and I put it on the table.

"I'm leaving in the morning. Dad's supposed to come and pick me up." Naruto said when I got a text message from Itachi saying that Naruto's dad checked himself into a rehab center and that we were letting Naruto stay with us for the remainder of him recovering. I wanted to rip someone's head off for not telling me sooner.

"Too late, Itachi and I are taking you home and you're staying with us Naruto." I told him.

"Wait, why?" He asked, and he sounded hurt that his dad wasn't going to pick him up.

"Your dad checked into a rehab center."

"He was supposed to be going home to sleep!" Naruto yelled, and I knew he was completely frustrated once again. "Get me the goddamn number to the rehab center he went to, I'm calling and telling him to get his ass back home."

"You can't do that once you're checked into a rehab center Naruto, Itachi just told me. Fucking hell? It's like he knew exactly what you'd do when I told you." I said, mumbling the last bit to myself though I didn't care if Gaara and Naruto heard me.

"Get Tsunade-baa-chan." Naruto said as he then tried to force himself up into a sitting position, but didn't get far when he winced. I could only blink and Gaara just stared at the fuss Naruto was making over this information, it was like someone told him his dad was kidnapped and was being held for ransom or something.

"Gaara, I'll be back, and don't let his nurse in." I told Gaara as I got up.

"Why can't his nurse come in?" Gaara asked, though the person he should be asking is Naruto.

"Naruto doesn't like him, and I don't know how to explain it." I told him. "Just don't let him in, and if he gives any problems, get Matatabi, she's the only nurse Naruto wants."

"Alright, just don't take too long." Gaara nodded, getting up and taking my chair when I left the room and went up to the desk down the hall.

"Oh, Sasuke, is everything alright?" Matatabi's voice echoed in my head as I approached her, her bright blue hair swaying as she turned her head from the files in her arms to look at me.

"Yea, um, Naruto wants to see Tsunade, is she busy?" I asked.

"Yes, she's about to go into surgery." She said, and I sighed heavily.

"Okay, and will you come with me also. Naruto is dead serious about not letting his nurse come into the room." I told her, raking my hand through my hair as I started to feel uneasy about not being in Naruto's room every second that passed by.

"I'll be right there, just let me put these files down where they need to go and I'll be on my way." She smiled, and I could see why Naruto liked her. She had a way of calming everyone around her just by being near them.

I smiled back and nodded as I went back to Naruto's room on rushed feet. But when I got back to the room, Naruto and Gaara were talking amongst themselves, though Gaara was pissed off once again and Naruto was nearly on the other side of the bed clinging to his pillow trying not to cry.

"What the hell happened while I was gone?" I asked, my blood starting to boil.

"You didn't tell me it was Yaguro that was his nurse, Sasuke." Gaara hissed, and I could tell something was terribly wrong.

"What difference does that make?" I asked.

"Don't let that man anywhere near that doorway or you'll have me to answer to, Sasuke." Gaara threatened as he glared at me with such intensity that I thought my heart was being stabbed with a white hot dagger.

"Can you tell me something about him that I honestly have no clue about?" I asked, but Naruto just quickly shook his head and refused to talk. Gaara wouldn't say anything either as he saw Naruto's reaction. I guess Gaara promised Naruto not to say anything about whatever is bothering the idiot.

"Matatabi is on her way in a moment." I said and sat in the chair Gaara was in earlier, and he seemed to relax a lot when he heard her name.

"She's a good nurse, I had her every time I needed to come in here for my insomnia." Gaara said, now crossing his right knee over his left as he got himself comfortable. "And I'll stay here as long as I possibly can. My father doesn't know that I'm here, but he won't mind."

"Your dad is freaking creepy Gaara." Naruto finally said, like he finally found his voice and calmed down enough to go back to the position on his bed that he really should be in at all times.

"I know … I know." The red head sighed heavily. "Are you staying here tonight Sasuke?"

"Yea, do you wanna stay too?" I asked, wondering why he'd ask.

"If it was a Friday or a Saturday, I would, but with it being a school night, I don't know. My father already has a hard enough time getting us three kids to school with his work schedule." Gaara explained.

"What if Itachi would give you a ride to school? He's taking the next few days off work anyway to help with this idiot while we're at school." I suggested, mostly because I knew he'd feel better if he knew Naruto was alright in his own eyes. It also gave me a feeling that Gaara liked Naruto in some way.

"That might work, my father trusts your brother … I think." Gaara nodded just when his own phone started ringing. "And that's him calling now." He said, but I remember him saying that he has his fathers' ring tone set to a specific song so he'd know who it was so he'd answer. He hated answering calls from people he didn't want to talk to.

"Yes Dad?" Gaara said, and then instantaneously, he started glaring at someone he wished was standing, or sitting, in front of him so he could pulverize them. "I'm sorry Dad, I forgot that someone needed to be home for your delivery. I was just checking up on my friend who got seriously hurt and is in the hospital." He said, and his words held quite a bit of venom in them. "I'll have Temari and Kankuro come pick me back up. They went to get something to eat down the street from the hospital … Yea, we'll be home soon." And with that the phone call was ended.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, afraid to, but I needed to know if he was staying here or not.

"Yea, I forgot Dad was getting a delivery of gold so he could start making jewelry at his store. The three of us were supposed to be there to sign for the crap an hour ago." He fumed as he quickly looked for one of his siblings' phone numbers and pushed the talk button on his phone and brought it up to his ear. "Yea, come pick me up, Dad is furious … I'll be out front."

"I'm sorry …" I said, and I truly did. "See about coming out later. I'm going to have Itachi bring me a change of clothes later so he might be able to pick you up."

"It's going to take some real hard convincing for my Dad to let me go now. But we'll try. Temari and Kankuro wanna visit him badly, but I'll tell them he's going home with you tomorrow." Gaara said as he stood up, shoving his phone back into his pocket as he got ready to leave.

"I'll miss you Gaara." Naruto mumbled, surprising us because he had been so quiet these last few minutes. I honestly thought he fell back asleep.

"I'll try to come back later, okay Naruto?" Gaara said, calmly with a small smile on his face as he reached over and ruffled Naruto's hair, earning one of Naruto's famous toothy grins, though it was small.

"I'll call you when I talk to Itachi." I told Gaara as he made his way towards the door.

"Thanks Sasuke, and please, make sure that asshole doesn't come in here while Naruto's sleeping. It's one of the reasons why I'm going to try hard to get my father to let me come here tonight; so someone can stay with him at all times." Gaara said, now standing in the doorway facing me.

I only nodded and watched Gaara leave, making me sigh heavily in annoyance. When was the last time that guy slept anyway?

"Hey, Sasuke, where's my water?" Naruto asked, and I could tell how dry his throat was.

"It's right here." I said, getting up and reaching over to the table and grabbed the water that he didn't drink yet and opened it for him. Luckily, laying on his stomach is letting him drink while still laying down. I'd hate to have to move him and send bouts of pain through him just to get something to drink.

"Thanks Sasuke." Naruto said after I pulled the water from his lips and put the lid back on the bottle. He laid his head back down and I could tell instantly that he was going to be sleeping almost the entire time he was here because of the pain medicine he was receiving.

"I'm here, sorry it took so long, another patient fell while trying to get out of bed and ripped his IV's out." Matatabi's smooth and calming voice said as I heard her enter the room on padded feet from wearing those weird clog shoes.

"It's alright, he's just been dozing in and out the last half hour anyway." I told her as I put the bottle of water down and got out of her way. "And I have a question."

"Ask away Sasuke." She said as she came over and placed a soft hand on Naruto's shoulder before lowering the blanket down to his waist and unstrapped the brace and gently took it off and started working on taking the bandages off. I wanted to see the damage on his back, but my stomach said it didn't, but I continued to watch anyway.

"Can you be Naruto's nurse tonight?" I asked, realizing I hadn't asked her yet.

"Tsunade put him on the schedule to be his nurse, you'll have to talk to her about it." Matatabi said, and I wanted to grind my teeth so hard that they chipped.

"I'll talk to her right now, I'll be in the hallway." I said and stormed out of the room while pulling my cell phone out and called Tsunade's number. She had given it to me a long while back when we first started noticing how bad Naruto's injuries were getting at the start of the year when school started. And I'm glad I still had it.

"Hey, Tsunade, it's Sasuke, I need to know if you can change Naruto's night nurse to Matatabi … every time that guy comes to his room when he's awake, he freaks out so bad he almost falls out of bed." I said when she finally answered after calling twice.

"Sure, tell Matatabi that she's staying overtime." Tsunade sighed heavily into the phone. She sounded exhausted, and then I remembered she was in surgery. I guess I called right when she got done.

"Thank you Tsunade." I said, ending the conversation and walking back into the room and stood frozen in place when I saw how bad Naruto's back was. The sight of the cut alone made me want to puke, but the color of his skin was like someone took spray paint. The bruise was blotchy with three different colors; black, blue and yellow. It made me wonder how Naruto could even get himself to move from all the pain he could possibly be in.

"Hey, Sasuke, what are you staring at?" Naruto asked, and he sounded really uncomfortable, whether it be pain or because I was staring at him without realizing it.

"Nothing." I said quickly before I finished walking back into the room. "Matatabi, Tsunade made sure I tell you you're staying overtime." I added before I forgot and sat down at the foot of his bed, I wanted to watch and see what I needed to do because the dobe was now staying with us for a while. God, this was going to be the longest few months in my life.


	9. Chapter 9 Naruto

Author's Note; I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I've been away from the computer to clear my head and get a good grasp on book 2 for this novel series. It's coming along slowly because my thought process is being distracted by the original story line for Naruto Shippuuden. It's making me depressed :(

Naruto; At least this story is much better! D: I can't believe my creator did that to me!

Sasuke; At least you weren't forgotten about! This is utter bull shit.

Me; I know, I know :( Well, lets get on with the story.

_**Chapter 9**_

_**Naruto**_

I couldn't believe my father went behind my back and checked himself into a rehab center without talking to me about it. We had agreed that we would wait until I got home and talk about our options, but no. Great, now I'm sounding selfish.

But that wasn't the worst of my problems, while my father was away getting himself over his alcohol addiction, I had to stay with Sasuke and his brother. I know I was being left in good hands, but it's humiliating when your best friend had to take care of you. And watching Sasuke walk back into the room once Matatabi was done taking the gauze off my back, and all he did was stand there and stare, it made my blood start to boil. And with the fact that he's pale all together in general, but he paled two more shades and I could feel the anger and fury just radiating off of him from the door way.

In all honesty, I wanted to know what was going through his mind, what he's thinking, especially when it came to my injuries. I know he's not stupid, I know he knows the truth, well, most of it anyway.

"Hey, Sasuke, what are you staring at?" I asked, his staring now really starting to get on my nerves.

"Nothing." He said quickly before he finished walking back into the room. "Matatabi, Tsunade made sure I tell you you're staying overtime." He added as he sat down where I couldn't see him, but I could still feel his eyes on my back.

"Quit staring damn it, I'm not in the mood." I said, not realizing I was being rude until it was too late.

"Sorry," Sasuke huffed when I suddenly felt something cold on my back, making me flinch and hiss in pain from the sudden movement.

"Just some herbal salve Tsunade put together for you before she got real busy." Matatabi reassured and went back to putting the last bandage in place. "Now, do you have a shirt you can put on Naruto? It'd be best if there was something between you and the brace as not to cause a rash and chaffing."

"All I got is the shirt I wore here." I answered with a sigh. "And I don't know where it is."

"I think your dad took it home, I don't see it anywhere." Sasuke said as I heard him move around.

"I'll lend you a hospital gown, so it's alright." Matatabi smiled when I turned my head to look at her. I only nodded as she left to go get one.

"You thirsty Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his voice suddenly closer and I realized that he was sitting in the chair next to me.

"Not at the moment." I yawned. "But I'm ready to go back to sleep."

"You can sleep once the brace is back on." Sasuke nodded. I sighed in frustration. "And what's got you on edge?"

"My father told me that we were going to decide how we'd go about changing things at home when we got home together." I admitted, though I don't know why. "I feel betrayed more than angry."

"Naruto, I honestly don't know why you're giving him a second chance." Sasuke sighed, and I knew there was some point in his words, but I didn't want to face them.

"He's been blaming himself and me for Mom's death, Sasuke." I sighed, making sure I didn't make eye contact with him.

"That's a poor excuse." He mumbled.

"Tsunade told me that Dad used to be happy before I was born, he was happy that he was going to have a son, but not even Tsunade knew that Mom's heart was failing through out the pregnancy. Mom had a massive heart attack moments after she held me and gave me to Dad. She said she could remember Dad's smile like it was just yesterday. But when she died, something died in him as well. It slowly became harder for him to take care of me once I started school. Always claimed I looked like her in some way."

"Okay, I'm back." Matatabi's voice sang as she came back into the room with the gown, making me happy I didn't have to explain anything else to Sasuke at the moment.

"How will I put it on? It hurts to move." I asked.

"I've been thinking about that too, and there's only one way … you'll have to sit up." She said, and I sighed heavily before burying my face in my pillow for a moment.

"Then lets go." I sighed into the pillow and in one go, I rolled onto my side and used my good arm to push me up into a sitting position, grimacing and wincing all the way.

"You must enjoy pain." Sasuke huffed and crossed his arms, though I know he was joking.

I wanted to add to his comment but Matatabi was in the room, and besides, Sasuke would be furious even more than he is now, and I don't wanna see him that way, not right now.

It took Matatabi and I a few moments to get the gown on, all because of my IV that's giving me either morphine or vicodin for the pain, but we got it on all the same … after tearing the gown's sleeve and tying it off.

"I'm sorry, it's just that we usually have the gowns that tie on the arms too, but I couldn't find any." Matatabi apologized.

"It's alright, I'm okay with this." I told her with a smile on my face as she reached past me and grabbed my brace.

"Sasuke, wanna help me for a moment?" She asked as she tried to get the brace around me, I could tell she didn't want to risk hitting my back, but I couldn't help but get flustered when Sasuke got closer to me.

"We'll need to make it slightly tighter than earlier, just to make sure that it's doing its job and not moving okay?" Matatabi said when she heard my breath hitch through my teeth once it was on and secure.

"It's okay." I whined, "can I lay on my back now?"

"Not until Tsunade says you can." She answered.

"Great." I pouted, laying back down and rolled back onto my stomach. I was so bored that if Kiba was here and offered to take me out of here and throw eggs at someone's house, I'd go with him.

"I'll be back in later to check up on you." Matatabi smiled, walking up to the whiteboard and erased the bastards name and put her name in its place. Thanking God that something went my way tonight.

"See you soon for dinner Naruto." She added with a wave and left to do some other work.

"Hey Sasuke …" I mumbled, half of my face now unburied from the pillow as I watched him sit in the chair with my opened eye.

"Yes dobe?" He said, smirking because he knew I hated that nickname.

"Do you hate me?" I suddenly asked, my eyes drifting away from him as I waited for an answer.

"No, I don't hate you Naruto." Sasuke said after a long moment of silence. A kind of silence that made you wish you never asked such a thing. "I'm just … sorry."

I blinked, raising my head to stare at him. Did I just hear him right? An Uchiha said … sorry?

"Yea, I said sorry, deal with it." He huffed and crossed his arms in agitation. "I'm sorry that you have to go through this bullshit, that's all."

"Don't be sorry … please … it's my fault anyway." I said out of nowhere as I lowered my head back down to my pillow and looked at the head of the bed in front of me.

"Say that one more time and I'll smack you." He hissed, and I knew he'd live up to his threat, so I didn't say anymore for the rest of the night, not even when Gaara came back later with Itachi who gave Sasuke his change of clothes for tomorrow. I half expected Itachi to lecture me about what I told Sasuke earlier, but it doesn't look like Sasuke told him anything about it.

I could hear Gaara and Sasuke talking in the hallway, before that, I could even sense Gaara's worry over me and my silence because the two knew I wasn't asleep. I refused to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, Yaguro was there tormenting me every second I was there until I woke up screaming and shaking so hard my stitches threatened to rip like earlier. I didn't want that, and not with Gaara around, he'd get so pissed that he'd search for the bastard himself and rip him apart.

I couldn't tell you how long the room around me was quiet. The lights were turned off probably an hour ago and I could hear Sasuke sleeping at the foot of my bed in the chair. He was exhausted, and I didn't want to wake him up if I needed something. Gaara was sitting in the chair next to me, and I could tell he was awake, though there were moments when his eyes flickered closed for about a few minutes at a time every half hour or so. I knew, more than Sasuke, that Gaara hadn't slept decently in two weeks. The most the guy could handle was three weeks at a time with two hours of sleep total, and he was barely making an hour or so these two weeks.

"Naruto, if you don't fall asleep, I'll ask your nurse to give you something to make you sleep." Gaara whispered, making me tense at the sound of his voice. Damn it, what gave me out? "And to let you know, your breathing is what gave you away."

"I'm sorry, but I can't sleep." I sighed in a whisper, so Sasuke wouldn't wake up.

"Then I'm going to go get Matatabi, I'll be right back." Gaara sighed quietly and left before I could say anything to object and pouted in silence.

I could tell Sasuke was still sleeping, his breathing hadn't changed, so I knew I could try getting up if I wanted. I'm great at swallowing my pain so no one hears. I was about to push myself up when I felt a hand on my head, and I knew full well it wasn't Sasuke's hand.

"Why don't you want me being your nurse, Naruto?" His voice whispered in my ear and I swallowed a whimper because I knew if I did, Sasuke would wake up and he would be hurt as well. "And don't worry about the boy, I snuck some sedatives in his drink hours ago, he'll be out a couple more hours."

My eyes widened, no wonder Sasuke was sleeping so deep. Oh God, what the hell am I going to do now?

"Don't worry, he'll be fine, he'll just have a nasty headache when he wakes up." Yaguro whispered in my ear again as I felt another hand reach underneath the blanket and snake up the back of my left leg and found it stopped between my legs pressed up my ass. Then I could feel him force his thumb up against my entrance. I growled as I tried to move, but my back shot up in pain and I stopped moving all together.

"You learn quick brat." Yaguro chuckled, his hand leaving my ass and sliding underneath the waist band of my pants and boxers. Now his hand was grasping my bare ass as his middle finger prodded at my entrance before he reached further and grabbed my dick and balls. I wanted to cry out when he squeezed them so hard I thought they were going to burst, tears were welling up in my eyes and threatened to fall.

"What the hell are you doing in his room?" Gaara's voice echoed into my room so viciously that I thought it was someone else for a moment. I was saved, but Gaara was pissed off beyond recognition.

"Who are you?" Yaguro asked, his hand retreating quickly, making me wince when the ring on his hand grazed me a little bit. I was too scared to make a sound.

"Get your ass out before I kill you." Gaara growled, but he didn't give Yaguro time to make a move before I watched Yaguro get pulled down into a bending position by someone grabbing his hair and dragged out of my room. I watched Gaara throw him out with a loud crash that echoed over to me.

"And stay out you fucking bastard!" He yelled before coming back into my room and glared at me with such ferocity that I finally started crying my eyes out into my pillow.

"Naruto, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry." Gaara said quickly before he reached over and helped me sit up gently so he could hug me, and I hugged him back while crying on his shoulders, clinging to him so hard I thought I might break his ribs. But he never protested.

"What is going on in here?" Matatabi's voice echoed into my room loudly before the light turned on. I would have been blinded if I didn't have my eyes closed and crying.

"That guy was in here doing something to Naruto. I didn't see what it was because I didn't turn the lights on … wait, why isn't Sasuke waking up?" Gaara said, and finally realized that Sasuke was still out of it.

"H-He said th-that he put s-sedat-tives in Sasuke's drink hours ago." I cried hard into Gaara's shoulder, only hoping they understood what I was saying, because I sure as hell didn't.

"I'm calling Tsunade, Gaara, don't leave the room." Matatabi said, her voice having an edge to it that I never knew it had, and that's when I knew she was furious.

All I could think about right now, was Sasuke, and if he was alright. Matatabi didn't check to see if he was alright when I told her. That proved that she didn't understand what I was saying, so I pushed myself off of Gaara.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worried he might have hurt my back.

"Sasuke, he drank sedatives!" I blurted out between sobs and pointed at Sasuke, who still had yet to move. "That bastard gave him sedatives somehow! He told me himself."

"I'm calling Itachi." Gaara said and pulled his phone out faster than I thought possible and had it up to his ear before I noticed he dialed the number already.

"Tsunade's on her way over." Matatabi said when she came back, the look on her face showed how furious she was, but when she saw that I was sitting up and pointing at Naruto and that Gaara was on the phone talking frantically and furiously at Itachi.

"Something wrong with Sasuke?" She asked, I could only manage a nod as she walked over to him and checked his pulse. "He's got a strong pulse, normal, but …" She said, stopping before she looked at me for an explanation, but I couldn't get myself to say it again. Then Gaara got off the phone and slammed it shut.

"Itachi's on his way. And Naruto said that Yaguro gave Sasuke sedatives through his drink, so he ingested some sort of sedative and I have no clue what it could have been." Gaara said, glad that he answered for me because it started becoming hard for me to breathe.

"Naruto, breathe, slowly, please." Gaara pleaded, something he never did when he grabbed at my shoulder with one hand and put his other on my chest.

"Excuse me Gaara." Matatabi said quickly, reaching past him as she grabbed an oxygen mask and put it over my face, my left hand was grabbing at Gaara's hand that was on my chest, but honestly, I wanted to just curl in a ball and wish all the pain would go away. My heart felt like it had stopped and was being squeezed so hard that it might burst.

"He's having an anxiety attack. I have to sedate him." I heard Matatabi said before everything around me started sounding muffled and the sting of a needle just above my elbow.

"His dad needs to know." I heard Gaara say before I passed out against someone.


	10. Chapter 10 Sasuke

Author's Note; Here's another chapter guys! :) R+R+F+F 3

_**Chapter 10**_

_**Sasuke**_

I groaned painfully when I felt sunlight hitting me in the face through Naruto's hospital window. Then pain shot through my entire body when I moved from the position I was in and almost yelped in pain. My whole body felt like it hadn't moved all night.

"Don't move too sudden, you'll be sore for a while." I heard my brothers' voice say, startling me a bit but I didn't jump like I expected I would.

"What time is it?" I groaned, slowly sliding myself up into the chair better, shivering when I noticed my blanket was gone.

"It's almost noon." He answered, making my eyes snap open just to squint because of the light, so I had to cover my eyes with my arm before they could adjust and I stared at him.

"Why did you let me sleep in?"

"Sasuke … someone slipped sedatives in your drink last night while you were out of the room and Naruto was sleeping before Gaara came over." Itachi explained, and I couldn't do anything but stare at him, I didn't know how to believe him until I looked at Naruto to explain, when I noticed he was wearing an oxygen mask and sleeping still.

"What the fuck happened last night? Where's Gaara?" I asked, wanting to yell, but I didn't want to risk waking Naruto up at all.

"Well, Gaara's going to explain, his father stopped by early this morning saying he was allowed to miss school today because he needed to explain to Tsunade what happened last night. I'll let him explain to you, not me. I only know what happened to you." Itachi said, and I sighed heavily in frustration.

"This better not be Yagura's fault." I growled.

"Like I said, I'm leaving it to Gaara to explain." Itachi sighed and we could only sit there in silence while listening to Naruto breathe steadily, softly, yea, he wasn't going to wake up any time soon.

"Itachi … when did you get here?" I asked, looking down at my lap and reached for the blanket that fell on the floor and wrapped myself with it.. I was freezing.

"I got here around three in the morning when Gaara called me. He sounded pissed and worried at the same time, all I can tell you about Naruto, was that I could hear him crying." He answered, and I felt my body tense when I heard that last bit.

"It had to be Yaguro!" I hissed angrily, I wanted to beat the shit out of him.

"And before you think about beating the shit out of him, Gaara already beat you to him. I heard he's lost his job too, but those are rumors." Itachi told me, like he read my mind. It creeped me out.

"Stop acting like you can read my mind." I mumbled and curled into a ball in the chair. Why was Gaara and Tsunade taking so long?

"Tsunade and Gaara will be here in a few minutes." Itachi said a moment later and that's when I glared at him.

"Get out of my head damn it!" I hissed.

"I got a text from Gaara …" He said, slowly. Great, now I sound like I'm going insane.

"Sorry." I mumbled and looked away, my bed at home sounding so much better as the seconds drew by. My whole body was so stiff that I couldn't find a comfortable position.

"And we're going home as soon as Tsunade says he's okay to go." Itachi said, and that made me relax a little bit.

"Okay, first off, Sasuke, I need to check you out." Tsunade's voice echoed when she walked into the room. Her heels clicking on the linoleum floor and making my teeth grind.

"What for?" I asked.

"Because the sedative you drank could have seriously hurt you." She said, reminding me of something I didn't want to remember.

Sighing, I stood up and walked over to her. Gaara looked exhausted more so than yesterday. He looked like he was sleep walking.

"First off, is Gaara okay? He looks like he's sleep walking with his eyes open." I said, pointing over at the red head and he glared at me in disgust.

"He's right Gaara, when was the last time you actually slept?" Tsunade asked, her arms crossing as she looked at him.

"That is none of your concern, I'll be sleeping when I get home." He growled, and I left it at that.

"So, what could the sedatives have done to me?" I asked, wishing I hadn't, but I needed to know as she took her stethoscope out and listened to my heart beat, only to put a finger to my mouth to shut me up.

"You sound fine, you weren't affected with it, it seems." She sighed happily as she straightened up, completely ignoring my question but I didn't mind, it helped not knowing, that's for sure.

"Gaara, what the hell happened last night?" I asked, looking at him and hoped he wouldn't get pissed for telling.

"Naruto couldn't sleep so I went to get Matatabi to get some sleeping aids and when I got back, that asshole was standing over him. I don't know what happened, but I know for sure that it wasn't something good because after I talked with Itachi, he started hyperventilating and needed oxygen and sedation to calm down." Gaara said, glad he wasn't getting angry. Guess he was too tired to be angry at this point.

"So, we'll have to hear it from Naruto what exactly Yaguro did to him to make him get into that state." Tsunade sighed as she checked him over. "And the sedation should ware off within the next hour, and he doesn't need this mask anymore." She added as she took the oxygen mask off of him and put it on the wall behind the bed. "He'll need plenty of relaxation and no moving around too much unless it's completely needed when he gets to your place."

"Did you guys tell his dad what happened?" Gaara asked, and I honestly wished he didn't.

"He does know, but he can't come here and see him. He'll have to wait until the forty-five days is over." She sighed and sat down in the chair next to Naruto's bed.

"Hey Gaara, would your dad be offended if we let you sleep at our place and go home tomorrow?" I asked out of nowhere, probably because I somehow got this feeling he'd fall asleep in our car on the way to our place to drop Naruto and myself off.

"I'll ask." He yawned and pulled his phone out slowly and started either texting or dialing his fathers' number.

"I'm having Ibiki give him a psyche evaluation today after school." Tsunade said out of nowhere, even Itachi was shocked she said such a thing.

"What the hell for?" He asked, apparently he didn't like the fact Ibiki was going to be in our house. I wonder what that story is about.

"I need to know what the history is between him and Yaguro, there is no other way to get that done." She explained, and I got what she was getting at.

"Fine, but call me before he is on his way over." Itachi sighed, and it was apparent that he was agitated.

I yawned and rubbed at my eyes, letting the blanket drop down my shoulders because I was starting to feel warm again and groaned at how itchy my eyes have gotten in the last five minutes when Itachi stopped talking.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" He asked when I winced in pain.

"I slept in my contacts." I groaned and went to the bathroom. No wonder my eyes were starting to hurt, they weren't meant to sleep in.

When I got to the bathroom, I noticed that my eyes were slightly blood shot and I took them out, throwing them away because they were dispensable and looked closer at my eyes. But once the contacts were out, I couldn't make anything out in my eye color of my eyes because my vision was that bad. Then I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach.

"Itachi!"

"What?"

"Did we ever order next months' contacts for me?" I asked, hoping and praying he would say yes.

"I don't think so, you ran out all ready?" He said.

"It's the end of the month already Itachi, and I don't have my glasses with me." I sighed heavily and stumbled out of the bathroom and back into the chair I was sitting in. "I'm going to have the worst headache ever."

"Sa … suke …" We all heard Naruto mumble under his breath and stir in bed a little bit. But no one knew if he was waking up at all or talking in his sleep. I knew first hand that he talks in his sleep because he used to sleep in class.

"He's still sleeping." Tsunade said, and she was in a better position to tell if he was waking up or not.

"No … Don't do it …" Naruto continued mumbling in his sleep. And I was becoming curious as to what the hell he's dreaming about, especially since I'm in it.

"I think we should wake him up." Itachi offered, and I agreed completely.

Tsunade only raised her hand to silence us while we sat and listened to what else Naruto might say, and she was right, he was going to say something else, but it wasn't what anyone was expecting.

"Take me instead …" And we all stared at him, I couldn't see him very well, but I could tell that by the way he was breathing, he was getting close to waking up in sobs.

"Wake him up." She finally said before her and Gaara reached over and shook his shoulder softly.

"Hey, Naruto, wake up." Gaara mumbled.

"Wh-What?" Naruto mumbled as he was pulled out of his disturbed slumber and I watched him sit up, but not without hissing through his teeth in pain.

"You ready to go home?" I asked, wanting to take his mind off the dream he had.

"I've been ready Sasuke-teme." He said, and I couldn't help but think he was smirking, hell I hoped he was.

"Well, you can leave in fifteen minutes. I want to have a look at your back since you've slept on it all night and half the damn day." Tsunade said as she stood up and Gaara took her chair.

After a few seconds of him sitting down, I got a text message and growled under my breath. I could only think that Gaara sent me a text message and I just tossed my phone to Itachi so he could read it and crossed my arms. God I wish I had my contacts now, this squinting was really starting to put a strain on my eyes.

"Well, other than the laceration almost healed, he can go home. He can take the brace off when he's laying down during the day to put ice on it for twenty minutes and off an hour. This will bring the swelling down the rest of the way, and I want to check him out again in two weeks for new x-rays." Tsunade said after a few minutes, and she sounded satisfied. "Now, can you guys leave the room so I can talk with Naruto for a moment?"

This surprised me, but it shouldn't have because I knew what she was going to ask him about, and we all know that Naruto wouldn't want all of us in the room to hear about it.

"No … they can stay in the room … I know what you're going to ask Tsunade-baa-chan." He sighed heavily. Oh how I wish I could see so I could see the expression on his face.

"Are you sure?" Tsunade asked, most likely wanting to make sure he was comfortable with his decision.

"Yea, I'm sure." He said, and I think he nodded.

"Okay … what happened last night?" She asked bluntly. Why couldn't she have been at least a little nicer.

"I couldn't sleep last night, hell, I was up most of it, listening to Sasuke breathing and watching Gaara doze in and out, but whenever I tried to sleep, I just kept getting this feeling that something bad was going to happen, so I kept myself awake. Gaara realized what I was doing and I agreed to let him go get Matatabi to get me something to help me sleep. But, while he was gone, Yaguro got into my room and pushed my head down into my pillow knowing I couldn't move well and …" And he suddenly stopped, but I knew what he was going to say afterwards. And just knowing made my stomach drop and I wanted nothing more than to puke.

"You have to say it Naruto or I can't press charges." Tsunade said, and she sounded pissed off.

"He touched me, and it wasn't the first time." Naruto said, and I could tell he was crying, I didn't have to have my vision to realize that.

"What do you mean by that?" Tsunade growled, and I saw Itachi stand up abruptly. I knew he was going to have a word with Tsunade when this was done.

"He touched me yesterday when I was half asleep and facing away from the door. I didn't know he worked here or I would have never came in." Naruto cried, and I didn't blame him.

"Point to where he touched you." Tsunade said, glad she wasn't making him say it out loud.

"He touched me everywhere down there! If Gaara hadn't come in when he did I thought he was going to actually do it!" He screamed, I could tell he was frustrated, but I honestly wished this was over with.

"Do you think he may have possibly left any traces of touching you? I want to make sure I get enough evidence against him to make sure he doesn't see society again." Tsunade asked, and she was dead serious about what she said.

"Yea, I probably have a noticeable bruise on my damn balls because he almost made them fucking burst." Naruto growled, I could tell he was getting more frustrated the longer he talked. "And his ring scraped at my ass when he was pulling his hand out of my damn pants." Now that made my blood boil to a point I thought steam was coming out of my ears.

"You know we'll have to take pictures of the bruising, right Naruto?" Tsunade asked, and I know she didn't like the thought of having to because of where they were, but there was no choice in the matter.

"Take as many as you need but no more and so help me if there's an off picture I'm breaking the damn camera." Naruto growled.

"Fine by me. Who would you rather take the pictures?" She asked.

"Uhm …" And this is where Naruto finally faltered and wished he could sink comfortably in the bed to hide. "Ask Matatabi if she would … I'm not having a male nurse take pictures of me."

"I can understand, and she's still here for a few more minutes so wait a moment while I go ask her." Tsunade nodded and left the room quickly. I guess she asked because since she's the principal at school, it would be completely inappropriate for her to take the photo herself. There'd be parents asking for her to be removed immediately.

"Sasuke … why are you squinting?" Naruto asked, shit, he wasn't supposed to know about my eye sight.

"The light is blinding, but I'm alright. We're leaving soon anyway." I told him, knowing he'd find out about the truth later.

"And why are you so quiet Gaara?" Naruto asked, and when he got no response, I could only guess that Gaara passed out in the chair. "Oh … oops."

"It's okay, you didn't know." I heard Gaara grumble, though I could say, personally, he wasn't upset. And that was odd.

"I'm wearing these home, I don't wanna change, it's too painful." I heard Naruto say and I couldn't help but blush a bit from his suggestion.

"Good morning Naruto." Matatabi's voice sang as she entered the room. I knew she was tired, but she hid it better than Gaara did.

"Out!" Naruto said, and we all knew who he was talking to, and I stood up with Gaara and Itachi and the three of us walked out of his room while Matatabi closed the door, but I didn't go through the doorway without running into the wall a little bit.

"Sasuke, you're going to have to tell him eventually, and I don't think I can order your contacts for two months so you're going to have to wear your glasses for a while." Itachi told me in a hushed voice. Only him, Tsunade and Gaara knew how bad my eye sight was. It was fucking embarrassing and I hated wearing glasses. I get paranoid whenever there's even a spot on the lenses.

"You're just saying that to piss me off." I growled.

"I'm telling you the truth, Minato can't afford to pay Naruto's hospital bill, so I told him we're paying for it and his rehab bill. Plus, it's bill time and I got bills to pay for us as well so that's taking a lot more money than I would expect." Itachi explained. I was infuriated, but I could understand Naruto's situation and let it slide.

"Minato paying us back?" I asked.

"Every penny. I told him if he didn't, we wouldn't help him out with the bills again." Itachi answered firmly. I was glad he set that rule down with a firm foot. I just hoped Minato followed through.

"Okay, you guys can come back in the room now." Matatabi's voice smiled when she opened the door and we saw Naruto sitting up on the bed ready to leave. I could tell he didn't want to be here anymore. "And Itachi, I'd like to talk to you when I'm talking to Tsunade, Naruto requested it."

"Alright." Itachi nodded, and I understood then and there that Naruto wanted Itachi to know the full extent of what was going on. I could only guess that it was because he was going to be under our roof and wanted us to know what happened. But I wasn't upset, he'd tell me in his own time, and Gaara.

"Sasuke … Gaara … I'm sorry." Naruto suddenly said before we officially walked back into his room. And the two of us were confused at the sudden apology.

"What are you sorry for?" Gaara asked before I could.

"It's my fault that happened to Sasuke and it's my fault you can't sleep Gaara, it's all my fault." He said, and he sounded hysterical. It made me think he finally lost it.

"No, nothing is your fault Naruto." Gaara said as I watched him go over and sit next to Naruto on the bed and comfort him. Something I couldn't do even if I tried. I wouldn't know how.

"You don't understand, it is my fault." He said just as I heard the familiar clicking of Tsunade's heels come up from behind me.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, obviously hearing Naruto's cries of him blaming himself for what happened and I could just feel the worry vibe coming off her as she stood next to me.

"He's blaming himself, is there any way we can get Ibiki here now?" I asked, hoping it was possible.

"I'm making the call to Shizune now." She said, I didn't notice she had her phone out already until she was speaking with her. Probably because I'm practically blind right now. "I was planning on talking to her when you left, but I guess now is as best as any."

"Sasuke, I need to talk to you." Gaara said suddenly very close in front of me, making stagger backwards and almost bump into someone.

"Dude!" I yelped.

"Sorry, I forgot." He said and the two of us went to the window that was at the end of the hallway next to Naruto's room and leaned against it slightly. I only used it for support.

"So, whatcha need to talk about Gaara?" I asked.

"It's about Naruto …" He sighed. "He's stressing too much, especially since his dad did what he did. I just want to let you know he might do something stupid."

"What do you mean stupid?"

"When he stayed at my house a couple of times, he always locked himself in the bathroom for two hours taking a shower. By the time I finally got our bathroom door unlocked, I would always find him with fresh cuts on his arms and legs, passed out in ice cold water and he'd have blue lips because he was in it so long." Gaara explained, I wanted to let my jaw drop, but my jaw only tightened.

"So you're saying Naruto sometimes hurts himself?" I asked quietly.

"Sometimes, only when his father is verbally assaulting him instead of physically assaulting him. But that was last year into this year. I'm afraid that he might go back into doing that." Gaara said, and I could tell this worry and what he was saying was genuine.

"We need to tell Itachi and Tsunade about this." I said, and I felt a hand up over my mouth.

"Naruto doesn't even know I'm telling you about this. He'll be pissed if I told them." Gaara said.

"But if they don't know, we can't give him the proper help he needs." I said after he lowered his hand from my mouth.

"I'll talk to him, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. I know you're right, but ultimately it is his decision." He sighed, we were both frustrated with everything that's happened in the last three days.

"Hey, guys, we're leaving." I heard Itachi suddenly say, but we couldn't have been talking that long could we?

"Isn't Ibiki coming here?" I asked, because I thought that's what the plan changed to be.

"No, he's meeting us at our place in twenty minutes. Tsunade heavily drugged Naruto so the car ride wouldn't hurt him too much." Itachi said, and I nodded.

"Gaara, you can sit with him in the back." I said as we headed back to the room to see Naruto in the wheelchair, his head bobbing a little bit. I wouldn't be surprised if he fell asleep on the way home.

"Okay." He said and handed me my things for me. I would have tripped over them other wise.

"H-Hey Sasu … ke …" Naruto mumbled. "You look weird." And he laughed, damn, she gave him good drugs, but it made everyone around him laugh. And it lightened everyone's mood completely, even though just a little bit.

"Lets go, I think everyone's ready for a real bed." Itachi said, I didn't have to look to see him smiling as we all walked down the hallway, save for Naruto who was being pushed down in the wheelchair that Tsunade said he could keep until he didn't need it anymore.

Gaara and Naruto passed out the moment they were loaded into the car and buckled up. Naruto using Gaara as a pillow and Itachi and I couldn't help but take pictures on our phones, though Itachi took the picture for me and saved it so I could taunt them later. I needed some entertainment if they were going to sleep at my house, especially since Naruto's staying for a couple months.

When we got home, it was a different story. Itachi had to get Naruto out while I had to get Gaara awake. It wasn't hard getting him awake, what was hard, was keeping him awake long enough to get inside the house. But we were able to get him to use his legs, me as a crutch so he wouldn't fall, and I let him sleep on our couch. Itachi had already wheeled Naruto to the spare bedroom he was going to stay in and got him in bed carefully. We both knew that these two would be out of it for a long while, especially Gaara. I must not have noticed he took the sleeping aid before we left, but according to Itachi, he hadn't taken it yet.

"Should we call his dad? He might not wake up to go home later." I suggested.

"When the time comes and he is still sleeping, I'll call his dad. I promise." Itachi said, and I only nodded before using the walls of the hallway for support to go to up to my room and frantically searched for my glasses that I thought were on my dresser.

"Hey, Itachi, I need help." I said loudly, but only loud enough for him to hear me and come into my room and shove something in my hands. I realized right away that they were my thick, black colored frames and put them on. Instantly, everything around me became focused and my headache was starting to slowly go away, though I knew I needed some pain reliever to get rid of it completely. "Thanks, where were they?"

"They were on your desk by your laptop." He told me, and I felt stupid. "And you're welcome."

"I don't remember putting them there." I said, but shrugged and threw myself on my bed.

"I'm making lunch soon, do you think you can stay awake that long?" Itachi said, still standing in my doorway.

"I think I can. I slept for twelve hours so far thanks to that asshole. So I'm going to stay up and work on homework and maybe some of my novel I started over the weekend." I said, then realizing I finished my homework yesterday.

"Oh, that's right, Ibiki's going to be here any minute!" Itachi said and quickly left just before there was a knock on the door. I just had to follow and see what was going to be said. Some entertainment would be awesome right now to lift my depressing mood for the time being.

"Hey Ibiki, I had almost forgot you were coming over." I heard Itachi say as I walked into the living room.

"It's alright Itachi, is Naruto awake?" I heard Ibiki ask, though he sounded worried for a change.

"He's out cold. Tsunade gave him something for the pain on the way home and it put him to sleep like a light." Itachi explained, and it wasn't over exaggerating.

"I'll stop by in an hour, if I know Tsunade well, it should only have him out for an hour." Ibiki said with a small nod. "Afternoon Sasuke."

"Afternoon Mr. Ibiki." I nodded back.

"You can wait here for him to wake up, if you'd like. That way you won't have to use up more of your gas in your car." Itachi offered, and I was baffled. "Gas is expensive these days."

"Yea, but I don't want to feel like I'm intruding." Ibiki said.

"You're not." Itachi smiled and let Ibiki into the house, who took the offer after a moment and Itachi closed the door behind him. But what none of us expected was for us to hear Naruto's scream coming from the spare bedroom that was loud enough to make my hair stand on end.

"Where the fuck am I?" He was screaming. Great, he forgot where he was staying and I hurried into the spare room.

"You're at our place Naruto, it's just Itachi and me." I said calmly, hoping he'd calm down once he saw me.

"Oh … sorry. I thought …" He started saying before he stopped himself and became stiff when Itachi and Ibiki came into the room behind me.

"Is everything alright in here?" Itachi asked.

"Yea, I forgot that I was coming here." Naruto mumbled, his head was now low so we couldn't see his face. I could tell he was trembling. He must have been in a nightmare again.

"Naruto, would you like to talk to me?" I heard Ibiki ask, and I felt offended, even if Naruto didn't.

"Sure … but everyone has to be out." Naruto said quickly, still keeping his head low.

"Naruto …" I started saying, but I felt Itachi's hand on my shoulder and I had to give in to letting Naruto being alone in our spare room with Ibiki. The man who knew how to tear you apart mentally to the point that you wished that you weren't ever born.

"See you in a few Naruto." I said, turning and looking back to see him before Itachi and I left the room and closed the door behind us. All we could do now, was wait for it to be over and hope that Naruto would be okay.


	11. Chapter 11 Naruto

Author's Note; Heeeeeey guys! I'm doing a double update today since this chapter is shorter than usual. I don't have much time on the computer these days as I liked to have, working in a Chinese restaurant is mentally exhausting!

Warning; There is some graphic stuff in the beginning of the chapter, so thought I'd warn everyone!

_**Chapter 11**_

_**Naruto**_

_I tried fighting them off, but all I could do was kick and even that was pathetic. Though once I tried biting the guy's dick that was shoved in my mouth but I was hit in the head with what felt like a rock so hard that I saw many different colors in my vision and I wanted to go to sleep. But the pain I felt from them made me stay awake._

_ I wanted nothing more than to go home. Home was better than this, even with my father beating me up, it was still better than this._

_ "Look, I think he's finally got the picture." Yaguro's voice laughed from behind me, then I felt him grab my hair and pull my head back by it. I wanted to cry out, but my voice wouldn't come and they all laughed at me again before I was thrown on the ground, nothing but a heap of pain and something else that made me want to throw up for the fifth time since they started._

_ Then I was picked up by my hair again and brought to my feet, though I could barely stand on my tip toes I was so high as Yaguro's face was brought down to mine._

_ "You tell anyone, and we'll make sure your life is a living hell." His voice said into my ear, clear as day. "If not, we'll go after your friends and make them do what we did to you while making you watch."_

_ "No, don't." I whimpered, the tears falling down my face again as I was then dropped and kicked in the head before they left._

"Where the fuck am I?" I found myself screaming before I shot up in the bed I was lying in and was reminded of the searing pain in my back a second later, making me wish I didn't move when I heard rushing footsteps come to where I was and the sound of Sasuke's voice calmed me down faster than I thought would be possible, but I still couldn't help but tremble underneath the blankets that were over me.

I wanted to cry, tell them everything and hope and pray that they would still want me in their house after telling them why I couldn't be there with Yaguro there. But the thought that Itachi would kick me out and Sasuke never being my friend again made me think twice. They could also tell my father and that wouldn't be the end of it. Hell, if he found out I'd probably be living on the streets.

"You're at our place Naruto." Sasuke's voice said, but I took a moment to say something.

"Sorry … I thought …" I started saying before I heard two more sets of feet rush into the room and I stopped talking.

"Is everything alright in here?" Itachi asked, my head now low so I couldn't look either of them in the eye.

"Yea, I forgot that I was coming here." I mumbled.

"Naruto, would you like to talk to me?" I heard Ibiki ask, and I felt offended, even if Naruto didn't.

"Sure … but everyone has to be out." I said quickly, still keeping my head low.

"Naruto …" Sasuke started saying, but he suddenly became quiet, so I could only guess that Itachi asked him to be quiet before I heard them leave and close the door behind them, but not without Sasuke saying something.

"See you in a few Naruto." He said when the door closed, and Ibiki walked up to the side of the bed and sat down on it. I guess he wanted to get started now that I was awake. He probably had to go back to the school when he was done.

"So, Naruto, are you feeling better than yesterday?" Ibiki asked.

"Physically, or mentally?" I asked sarcastically.

"Both actually." Ibiki said when there was a sudden knock on the door. Startling me enough to flinch slightly, and I was surprised that it didn't hurt when I did.

"I brought Ibiki a chair in case he wanted one." Sasuke's voice said through the door before Ibiki got up and opened it.

"Thank you Sasuke, it might be a while before the two of us are done." He said, taking the chair thankfully before he closed the door and came back, sitting the chair close to the bed as he sat down. "Naruto, you know that I'm recording our conversation, right?"

"Yea, I know." I nodded, it was obvious. He's a trained psychologist that teaches in my school … last time I heard, he was in interrogation in Konoha's police force.

The most brutal man of them all.

"I'm not here to make you frightened, and you don't have to talk about anything if you don't want to talk about it." Ibiki said, and I nodded.

"Alright, wanna tell me what happened when you first met Yaguro?" Ibiki asked, straight to the point, and that was what I was afraid of.

"That's too direct …" I mumbled.

"Sorry, I'll redirect." He said with a small nod, understanding instantly and I couldn't help but lower my head again. "When was the first time you saw Yaguro?"

"I was eleven, skipping school because I was sick and tired of being picked on by everyone around me because I was different. I ended up being near the high school when I was pulled to the side by him and his two friends; Sanju and Minari. Sadly, I don't know their last names either." I answered, probably too quietly for the recorder, but knowing Ibiki, he brought a very sensitive recorder that can record any sound made. But I would never be sure.

"May I know what they said and did when they pulled you to the side?" Ibiki asked, and I felt hesitant in answering.

And like I knew it was going to happen, my whole body began shaking while I made fists so tight that my knuckles were turning white.

"Remember, you don't have to answer." Ibiki reminded me, and I nodded while biting my bottom lip hard.

"They said … since I was being sort of rude because I wasn't having a good day, that they needed to teach me, a little brat, what older kids like them do to us when we're disrespectful." I said before I choked on the rest of what I wanted to say. I could tell I was crying, my shirt was starting to get damp around the neck.

"Take your time." Ibiki reminded, once again.

"I know!" I barked on accident before reaching up with my hands and grabbed at my hair. I wanted to pull each strand out by their roots. "I can't … I can't do this." I found myself saying as I let my hair go and buried my face in my hands. I'd curl up into a ball if I could.

Ibiki didn't say anything after I said that. But if he was, he'd probably repeat everything he's said, and he knew he didn't need repeating. He knew that there needed to be silence because he knew that if he repeated anything I'd start throwing a fit and would hurt myself again. Right now, I'd give anything to have a razor so I could release this pent up anger, frustration and fear so I wouldn't have to talk about it. I hated talking about anything that dealt with me, even if it wasn't my father that dealt the physical pain.

"They raped me for almost two hours and left me there. It took me four hours to get myself up, dressed and to go home so I could wash off the filth." I said quickly, my whole body shuddering so hard that another shot of pain went through my back, but I didn't care. "Fucking Christ, I still feel their filth all over me." I added, wishing I was in the shower again, I wanted to scrub myself off so hard that I started bleeding. That was the only way to get them off of me.

"Do you remember where?" Ibiki asked, and I wanted to hit him so hard that my hand broke.

"In an alley between the high school and the middle school where no one goes during classes." I found myself answering before I forced myself to move out of bed and towards the door.

"Where you going Naruto?" He asked, probably wanting to know if I was going to run off or something, I have no clue.

"I'm going to the bathroom. I don't remember the last time I went." I told him, truthfully and left the room only to find Sasuke coming down the hallway, his face buried in a book he was reading.

"Oi, Naruto, you shouldn't be walking." He said quickly when he noticed I was walking out of the room and rushed over to me to help me steady myself onto my feet, but I just pushed him off.

"Where is the bathroom?" I asked, not bothering to look up at him as I used the door frame for support.

"Just down the hall on your left." He answered, sounding a little hurt, but I didn't care right now as I went in the direction he told me and locked myself in the bathroom, turning the lights on and went to work on looking for a razor of any kind.


	12. Chapter 12 Sasuke

Author's Note; Second chapter to the double update! Hope everyone likes it :) R+R+F+F

_**Chapter 12**_

_**Sasuke**_

Itachi told me to leave Naruto alone until Ibiki said it was alright for anyone to go into his room. I honored that and decided to read a book I hadn't read in a long time, so I went to my room and picked up a book called impulse by Ellen Hopkins, the same book that Naruto's reading for English class, and was kind of happy he was into reading the same things I like to read. I just hoped he liked it.

But as I left my room to read in the living room in the arm chair that was more comfortable than my bed when it came to reading, I saw Naruto standing in the door way of his room. I could tell he had been crying, it was obvious; his eyes were red and swollen and even from where I stood his cheeks were still wet with tears, even if he denied it all, there was plain evidence.

"I'm going to the bathroom, I don't remember the last time I went." I heard him tell Ibiki, though I could sense extreme hurt and emotional pain in the words he spoke. Whatever him and Ibiki were talking about, it was making the blonde very stressed.

"Oi, Naruto, you shouldn't be walking." I said quickly as I rushed over to him to be his support, but he pushed me off.

"Where is the bathroom?" He asked, and I could tell he wasn't going to look up at me to let me acknowledge that he was crying.

"Just down the hall on your left." I told him, and I made sure I let him know how hurt I was by his actions, but knowing Naruto, he wouldn't care.

Without getting a thank you, he limped down the hall and into the bathroom and I glared a little bit, until Ibiki's voice gained my attention.

"Sasuke … come here for a minute." He said, and with a raised eyebrow, I went into the room and sat on the bed with my arms crossed after putting the book down next to me.

"What is it Ibiki?" I asked.

"You and Itachi need to keep a close eye on Naruto. You know I can't tell you anything, but I'm getting a feeling he's going to hurt himself somehow, some way." He told me, and I didn't know if I should believe him at all.

"Why are you saying that? Naruto isn't someone that does that stuff." I said, hoping and praying I was right.

"He'll tell you when he's ready, and I don't think it will be today. If he tells you and Itachi today, I'm going to be surprised as hell." He said, and I was more confused than I've ever been in my life. And I was about to say something about that when there was a crashing sound from the bathroom and I think Ibiki's face paled, and that's something that never happens. Ever.

That's when the two of us bolted out of the room just as Itachi rounded the corner from the kitchen and we all ended up at the bathroom wanting to knock it off its hinges, until Naruto yelled at us.

"If any of you come in here I'll fucking hurt you!" He said, and it made no sense at all.

"Is everything okay in there Naruto?" I found myself asking before anyone else said a single word.

"I'm fine …" He said slowly. "I bumped something is all."

"Like hell you did Naruto, there's nothing in that bathroom to knock over." Itachi said, and the fierceness in his voice shocked me.

Ibiki put his hand up to Itachi, and we both knew it was to talk calmer to Naruto than we already were. We just needed to breathe and take things slowly … but I don't know why.

"Naruto, can one of us come in and see if you're alright?" Ibiki asked.

"I only want Gaara!" Naruto nearly yelled after a few minutes, and it broke my heart to hear him say that. It's like he doesn't want me here helping him at all and that pissed me off.

"He's still sleeping, Naruto, and I don't know when he'll wake up." Itachi answered, and I was glad to, because if I said anything it'd just make the situation worse.

"Can Sasuke come in instead?" Ibiki asked, and I stared at him.

"If he says anything to piss me off I'll break that recorder you have Ibiki!" Naruto said after a very, very long silence. And we all knew he was serious. "And not only that I'll make sure I leave and no one can find me, ever!"

"I got one more question Naruto." Ibiki said.

"Tell Itachi anything, I don't care." Naruto sobbed, and I only got more confused as the two older men looked at each other for a moment.

"Itachi and I will be in the bedroom, call if you need us okay Naruto?" Ibiki said and the two men finally left, closing the bedroom door loudly, probably to prove to Naruto that they weren't in the hallway anymore.

I heard the lock in the bathroom click after hearing some sliding in the bathroom and I waited until I knew Naruto wasn't moving anymore before cautiously opening the bathroom door, I didn't know what I was going to expect, but when it was opened, I found the mirror shattered and some droplets of blood on the sink. When I saw that he wasn't in the way of the door, I opened it a little more before sliding in, glad I was wearing my shoes and closed the door behind me. But whatever I could have done to prepare myself for anything, I was not prepared to see Naruto lying in the tub with his pants missing and blood everywhere.

"N-Naruto …" I mumbled, hardly able to find words as I stood there shaking. I was too afraid he'd do something else if I moved from where I was.

"I know, I'm pathetic and should be locked up in some psyche hospital or something." He cried lightly. "You were going to find out either way, even if Gaara was awake and helping me instead."

"What can I help with Naruto?" I finally asked, my voice finding the right words to say as I walked over the few steps and sat on the closed toilet.

"You need to know why, but I can't bring myself to tell you." Was what Naruto said, something I wasn't expecting. "I only have you and Gaara and you need to know, but I'm scared that you'll never want me around if you do."

"You don't have to tell me right now if you don't want to." I said, truthfully, because I knew that if it was forced, it'd make things only worse.

"You can't tell my Dad." Naruto said as he turned his head to look at me, and I could tell that everything that has happened in the last few days was finally starting to get to him, and in a very bad way.

"I won't, I promise." I said with a nod. I wouldn't tell that man anything anyway.

Naruto only nodded as he tried to sit up in the tub, that's when I heard the clinging of glass and realized that he just dropped a piece of the broken mirror into the tub.

"Remember when I skipped class in junior high? When we were both eleven?" He asked, and I had to fight hard to raise an eyebrow in question.

"Yea, I remember, you didn't come back to school for two days after that day." I nodded.

"I skipped gym because I was sick and tired of being made fun of for the bruises, cuts and swollen arms and legs … I was sick and tired of it." He said, hushed though I knew he was fighting to keep from yelling everything he said. "I ran into some high school kids that were skipping class … and they took me into the alley between the two school where there wasn't any fencing and th …" He started to finish before I he choked on his words.

"Take your time." I said, now sitting on the edge of the tub as I tried my hardest to comfort him without hurting him anymore than he already was.

"I know, I know." He cried as he clung to me, covering me in the blood that was on his arms and face, but I didn't mind, these were spare clothes to work out in anyway. I only brought my hand down on his head and stroked his soft blonde hair and stroked his hair softly while my other hand hugged his head gently.

"They raped me Sasuke." He said suddenly after he cried into my shirt for ten minutes and I stiffened at the word rape. Who wouldn't? But I just hoped he didn't take it badly. "They raped me for almost two hours because they said I was rude to them."

I wanted to ask him who it was, but I had the feeling I knew who one of them were. I wasn't going to make him tell me names, I didn't need to know, not now if he didn't want to tell me.

"Why do you think I'd hate you if you told me that Naruto?" I found myself asking, though a part of me wished I didn't.

"I don't know … I just don't know …" He cried as he clung to me tighter, and I let him. He needed another way to vent, and I was going to find it.

It was a couple hours before Naruto and I left the bathroom cleaned up and bandaged up. I let him borrow my night clothes since we hadn't gone to his place to get his clothes yet. He said he wanted to go over tomorrow after I came back from school.

He wanted to know if Gaara was still sleeping, but it turns out that he was awake for a while, worrying himself over Naruto since he wasn't in his room and all. But my brother fixed it up and explained to him that Naruto was taking a bath and that I was helping him, which wasn't a lie at all. But Gaara was suspicious because of how long we were in there.

"I'm sorry Gaara." Were Naruto's first words when we went to the living room and I helped him into the arm chair, and I could feel Gaara's glare boring through my back.

"What happened while I was asleep?" He asked when I got myself to sit on the other side of the couch with my book I got from the spare bedroom before we came out here.

"Uhm, well … I told Ibiki what happened and I had … uhm …" Naruto started saying, but I could tell he didn't want to say the rest.

"You didn't!" Gaara almost yelled. "I thought we got past all that Naruto!"

Now I felt like I was the one left out of everything.

"What in the hell do you mean by that?" I asked, a little bit more hateful than I wanted to be.

"I've done it many times before, Sasuke …" Naruto said, and he was looking down at his lap where his hands were and picked at his nails. Something he did a lot when he was nervous.

"Oh …" I said, and I sank into the couch.

"I thought you were going to talk to me when you had the urge to do that." Gaara said, and he sounded completely hurt.

"I was, but they said you were sleeping." Naruto told him, he sounded like he was crying.

"Hey, boys, please don't argue right now." I heard Itachi say from the kitchen. He didn't sound like he was in the mood to deal with anything right now.

"Naruto, I'm not mad, okay?" Gaara said quietly.

"I'm sorry." Naruto mumbled, and then the room got eerily quiet save for Naruto trying to get himself to stop crying with sniffles here and there.

I wanted to say something, but I felt that if I did, we'd go back to the slight arguing that we had just gotten over with, so I went on and started reading my book until I was bored.

Then I remembered I wanted to talk to Itachi about something and put my book down. I accidentally startled Naruto and apologized as I walked out of the room and into our kitchen where Itachi looked like he was sitting at the kitchen table and going through a folder that I recognized immediately as our financial folder and felt my stomach sink a little bit. He never went through that book unless we were in some trouble.

"What's wrong Itachi?" I asked and sat down across from him.

"Nothing really, I wanted to make sure we had enough to take care of Naruto's bill and for him to stay here for a while. It's just a double check." He said and stretched while he yawned. I could tell he was tired and ready for bed.

"You should go and get some sleep." I told him with a nod to what he told me.

"I will in a little bit. I have to call work and request off the rest of the week and into next week." He said.

"Why so long?" I asked.

"To take care of Naruto while you're at school. Tsunade called earlier and said she didn't want to see him at school until next Wednesday." Itachi said.

"Well, good luck in getting him to agree to that. You know he'll never listen." I said with a chuckle.

"I know, I have to convince him somehow to stay here." Itachi sighed heavily and combed his hands through his hair. "This is going to be the longest week of my life."

"I'll stay." I found myself saying before I realized it.

"You can't miss school though." Itachi sighed.

"I'll be fine, I'm valedictorian anyway." I shrugged, leaning back in my chair as I crossed my arms. "And besides, Tsunade will want as many eyes watching over him as possible. That's just the way she is."

"You're right, but you know you'll have to work double time to keep that status." Itachi said, but I already knew that.

"Alright, nii-san." I nodded.


	13. Chapter 13 Naruto

Author's Note; I'm doing another double update because this chapter is so short. I'm sorry for not updating on Sunday, I was away from internet until last night and I was so exhausted I couldn't stay up long enough to get comfortable on my bed! Also, these next three chapters I'm going to need everyone's opinion on how I should finish up this part later on in the book since I forgot about it ... Heheh ... I hope everyone likes the second double update!

Naruto; You're evil ...

Sasuke; She's not as evil as Itachi can be, but yes, she's evil.

Me; Now hold on there!

Naruto; Lets tie her up and torture her!

Me; Just you try it! D:

Sasuke; That's too light ... maybe we should to Chinese water torture. -Smirking evily-

Me; Fuck off! -storms away-

Sasuke and Naruto; Enjoy the chapter!

_**Chapter 13**_

_**Naruto**_

I knew Gaara would be pissed off at me when he found out I cut myself again without him there to help. But I honestly didn't want to wake him up or bother him with my problems again. But sitting here in this silence when Sasuke walked out of the room made it more awkward for me to be sitting here than I wanted it to be and it was making me want to leave all together.

"Naruto …" Gaara said a few minutes after Sasuke left and I stiffened because I feel like he wants to reprimand me for not waking him up. "Are you going to be okay?"

And I was shocked by his question, so shocked that I didn't answer right away.

"I … I'll be alright." I nodded, biting my lip.

"Are you sure?" He asked, yea, he was extremely worried.

"Yea, as long as you and Sasuke and his brother are with me." I said, truthfully. I honestly didn't want to be left alone for a while.

"I'll always be here, and so will they. So don't worry about it okay?" Gaara said as he got up and walked over, hugging me lightly because of my back but I could tell that he wished he could hold me tightly. "And I have a confession to make …"

"What?" I asked, hoping it wasn't something bad.

"Sasuke isn't allowed to help you get a bath anymore." He said, and I could tell he was serious, but I still couldn't help but laugh. "And it's not funny Naruto."

"I'm sorry, but it is." I laughed, and laughed harder when I saw Gaara blushing.

And when I realized what he was talking about, I suddenly stopped laughing and blushed darker than my favorite red shirt that's at home and lowered my head to hide my face so he wouldn't notice I was blushing at all.

Then Gaara put a hand under my chin and pulled my head up so I could look at him and he rested his forehead on mine. Now I was really blushing like mad.

"Lets both of us get better, ne?" He said with a smile. And I knew what he was talking about.

I nodded once with a smile back, "yea, lets get better together."

"Is everything okay in here?" Sasuke's voice echoed into the room and Gaara pulled back so fast that it was a blur, but both of us were blushing so I can probably picture what Sasuke thought we did.

God, this was embarrassing!

"For Naruto to laugh, Gaara must have done or said something funny, may I know what that was?" Sasuke asked as he walked into the room and took his place back on the couch where he was before he left the room. I didn't want to tell him, and by the look on Gaara's face, he didn't want to either.

"He was trying to lighten up my depressing mood and it worked like a charm." I said, hoping he'd take it.

"Alright." He shrugged and both Gaara and I let out a breath that we were holding, waiting for his answer and Gaara sat back down on the couch, looking much calmer and much better than he was a few minutes ago.

"What would you two like to eat for dinner?" Sasuke asked, and I realized I hadn't ate all day.

"I'm starving … how about we order pizza?" I suggested and Sasuke stared at me.

"Why pizza?" He asked, and I frowned.

"Because, Itachi doesn't need to make food for us again, maybe we should just have leftovers of whatever he made while I was having a depressed episode." I said, crossing my arms in mock anger.

"No, no, pizza's fine." Itachi's voice said behind me, making me tense and accidentally make a squeaking sound and it made me sound like a girl. I couldn't help but blush when Sasuke started laughing.

"I like cheese pizza." Gaara said.

"Pepperoni." I said. "And extra cheese!"

"I'll take either." Sasuke said with a shrug as he went back to reading and was done laughing at my embarrassing moment.

"I'll go order while you guys work on your homework." Itachi said. "Ibiki dropped everyone's homework assignments for all your classes while he was here. And Tsunade wants to stop by and see how you're doing after dinner."

"Why?" I whined.

"Because she needs to see if you're doing okay." Itachi said and ruffled my hair, making me growl and grind my teeth. I hated it people touching my hair when I don't give them permission.

"Whatever." I huffed just as Itachi went back to the kitchen.

"Hey, Naruto, would you like Gaara to stay here while you're here?" Sasuke asked, and I could have sworn that both Gaara and I tensed visibly at this suggestion.

"It would be nice, but his father wouldn't like it." I mumbled, blushing dark like earlier so I hid my face as I looked down at my lap again. Shivering as I realized how cold the room was.

"I'll try to ask him, he won't mind if he sees it as me helping you out. My Dad doesn't hate you Naruto, he actually likes you." Gaara said, and I sank in the chair a little bit.

God, was this embarrass Naruto day?

"Itachi was going to call, and I'd let him do the talking, he'll most likely get the words to come out right." Sasuke said, and chuckled a little bit.

"What's so fucking funny teme!?" I yelled in a high voice.

"I like seeing you both blushing like tomatoes. It's hilarious, especially when Gaara's the one blushing." Sasuke admitted. "But I wasn't lying when I said Gaara could stay here while you were Naruto."

"I know you weren't lying." I huffed.

"You're in a much better mood than earlier, and I'm glad." Sasuke said with a smile before returning to his book.

Both Gaara and I couldn't help but smile at the comment, I was glad that I had these two at my side, plus Itachi. I just wish my Dad was here to be happy with me. And that was it, at the thought of my father, I found myself frowning and trembling, making me realize that I was on the verge of crying.

"I just wish my Dad could be here, happy with all of us." I said, the tears now falling as I slowly felt myself crumbling.

"He will be soon Naruto." I heard Gaara say before I felt two pairs of arms wrapping themselves around me.

"He's right Naruto, he's getting himself clean right now so he can be happy with you." Sasuke said on my right.

They were both right, but I still felt like my father went behind my back.

"He better have checked himself into a rehab center or so help me I'll beat him senseless." I vowed as I hugged them both back and dried my tears. I could tell Gaara and Sasuke were happy with my words, because they were both smiling at me when Itachi came back into the room and I could feel the awkwardness growing.

"Did I miss something while I was in the kitchen?" He asked and the three of us broke the hug quickly. I think all three of us were blushing, but I was mistaken, only Gaara and I were blushing.

"Just a group hug is all." Sasuke said and took his seat again and picked his book back up.

"Okay, and dinner will be here in half an hour. I'm going to go take a shower. Don't do anything stupid while I'm in there, please. Money is on the kitchen table if I'm not out before they get here." Itachi said, and I had a gut feeling he was talking to Sasuke in the end before he went down the hallway and closed a door.

"So, Naruto, wanna watch a movie tonight while we eat dinner?" Sasuke asked, and Gaara blinked.

"Depends on what's in that head of yours." I answered with a toothy grin, but Sasuke knew I was joking around. But I could swear Gaara was still blushing when he sat down and looked to the side so he wouldn't see us.

"Gaara, what movie would you watch?" I asked as I looked over at him, wishing he'd suggest something because I have no clue what's out as a movie anymore. I stopped paying attention to that stuff when we lost cable because I couldn't afford it.

"How about we just find something on TV?" Gaara asked, finally looking between Sasuke and me, though he was mostly looking at me.

"I have no clue what's on TV anymore." I admitted.

"Channel flipping." Sasuke said as he put his book away, once again and grabbed the remote off the coffee table, turning the television on and slowly went through the channels.


	14. Chapter 14 Sasuke

Author's Note; Yesh, the second chapter to the double update. Now, I'm going to be a couple days behind on the next update so I'm warning everyone now before I forget! No update until either Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

_**Chapter 14**_

_**Sasuke**_

Tsunade was brutal on Naruto after finding out he cut himself yesterday. She was even more pissed off when she actually saw the damage that was done and gave him some more healing salve to put on the cuts to make sure they didn't get an infection. She was also grateful for Gaara and me staying to help with Naruto since Itachi's jobs wouldn't let him take the rest of the week off.

So right now, the three of us were gathered around the kitchen table working on our homework and Naruto wouldn't sit still. Every few seconds, sometimes a minute or so, he'd shift in his wheelchair that he was using since Tsunade found out he walked a bit yesterday and reprimanded him for that as well.

Both Gaara and I knew he was in pain, but he refused to take any medication for the pain, saying he could deal with it, but we knew that he'd soon reach a limit and start begging for the relief from the pain, but he has yet to ask for them.

"Hey, Sasuke, Gaara, wanna go out and get some ramen?" He suddenly asked after slamming his pen down. I could tell he was done with homework for now, and he looked like he had a headache.

I don't blame him, I'm getting one as well.

"Well, I don't know, Itachi is expecting us to be here when he gets home." I said, and I wasn't exaggerating, Itachi told me this morning that he didn't want Naruto to go out much today, especially into town where we could possibly run into Yaguro since he left the hospital two nights ago after Gaara threw his ass out of Naruto's room.

"It's just to the ramen stand." He whined.

"I can ask Itachi to pick up some ramen." I suggested, hoping he'd listen.

"But it isn't the same." He pouted, and I could only sigh heavily in annoyance.

"The old man there is willing to deliver." Gaara said quietly, completely focused on his homework save for the conversation at hand, but he was right, they do deliver.

"That's fine." Naruto finally gave in after a few minutes of looking between Gaara and me before he sighed. And since Gaara and I knew Naruto fairly well, he wasn't liking being kept inside the house all day. That's probably what the problem was. "Barbeque pork ramen, extra large order." He added with a grin.

"What would you like Gaara?" I asked.

"I'll have vegetable ramen." He said, the same thing I was going to get.

"Alright, I'll be right back." I told them and left the table to go to my room where my phone was and had the ramen stands' number programmed into my phone. Somehow, I knew I was going to need it if Naruto was staying here.

After ordering the food and paying with my bank card, I tucked my phone away in my pocket and grabbed my laptop before heading back out to the kitchen to find that Gaara had moved into the seat next to Naruto's wheelchair and they were huddled together. I was only hoping, mentally, that they were looking at homework together as I sat down in my seat across from Naruto.

"Whatcha guys doing?" I asked slyly. I loved teasing them two.

"Nothing, Gaara was just telling me something about our math homework that I wasn't getting. God, why do we have to go to school anyway?" Naruto said, then complained before roughly messing his hair up with both hands in frustration.

"It's so we can get a better life." Gaara said.

"From walking up behind you two, it looked like you guys were making out." I said with a wide grin, only because I wanted to see their reaction. I knew they weren't making out or anything. But it's fun!

Immediately, both of them blushed the same shade of tomato red and Naruto hid his face in embarrassment. Gaara, on the other hand, coughed lightly to clear his throat as he looked the other way. Oh, God, maybe they were.

"Uhm … so, what are you reading for English Sasuke?" Naruto suddenly asked to change the subject, and that only made me suspect that they were even more.

"I'm reading a book called Identical by Ellen Hopkins." I answered as I pulled my book out of my back pack and put it on the table. "I've already read it so I just need to write the paragraphs and the report and I'm finished."

"Such a damn show off." Naruto pouted. "I'm reading Impulse by that author."

"It's a good book, but too depressing in my opinion." I told him, and it was the truth. I hated the ending to the book, only because I feel like Connor's parents are like ours, Itachi and me. Pisses me off.

"I'm liking it, but sometimes I have to read each transition between the characters a couple of times before I understand what's going on." Naruto said, and I wouldn't blame him.

Then Naruto's face paled for some reason and he stared at me with a look that was starting to make me worry.

"What's wrong Naruto?" I asked, afraid of what he might say.

"I have to work this weekend!" He nearly screamed and I thought Gaara was going to flip out.

"You can't work this weekend!" Gaara screamed as he stood up. "You can't, if you've forgotten what's happened since Monday."

"If I don't work this weekend and get my paycheck, I'll be fired and that paycheck is keeping electricity in our house!" Naruto argued, and I could tell he meant what he was saying.

"Don't worry about it, okay?" I said, but he was still freaking out.

"I have to worry about it!" He finally yelled and pulled his hair again. Now I felt like I needed to tie him down so he wouldn't hurt himself on accident.

"Well, let me call your work, they'll probably listen to me Naruto." I said, hoping he'd let me get a try to get him some time off work. And when the blonde nodded after a couple of minutes muttering to himself how he'd never be able to pay the bills for the next few months because of his injuries, I got the number and went to my room so I could call them without the noise. I had a feeling that if they heard Naruto in the background, they'd think twice and screw him over.

Sighing heavily as I sat in my computer chair while trying to calm down and think of the right words to say, I dialed Naruto's work number and waited for it to stop ringing. It took a couple rings before someone answered. I had to cringe because of her shrill voice echoing in my ear.

"Welcome to McDonalds, this is Mari, how can I help you?" She said.

"Yea, I'm Sasuke Uchiha and I'm calling in for a friend, Naruto Uzumaki, he won't be able to come in for work for a few months." I said, and I could tell by the way she was breathing into the phone that she wasn't happy at all.

"Why?" Was all she said.

"He got a back injury a few days ago and he won't be able to work for a couple months." I said, repeating most of it.

"I'm sorry, but he's needed this weekend." She said after a few minutes of complete silence, and her attitude was starting to piss me off.

"I'm sorry, he's not even allowed to walk around the house, he can't come into work until his doctor says he can." I said with a little bit of venom in my voice.

"If he doesn't show up at midnight tonight, he's fired." She said and then I lost connection.

I couldn't believe she hung up before I did, and besides that, I was completely furious with her. And I was furious enough to call Itachi while he's at work.

"Is everything okay Sasuke?" Were the first words he said when he answered the phone two rings later.

"No, everything's not fine though Naruto's completely alright." I said. "I called Naruto's work and I'm guessing it was his boss that answered the phone, but she said that if Naruto doesn't come into work at midnight tonight he's fired."

"Who's the person you talked to?" Itachi asked after a moment.

"She said her name's Mari, didn't tell me what her last name was." I answered.

"What's his work number and I'll have Tsunade call in. I think she'll have fun." Itachi said, and I could tell that there was amusement in his voice. I could only smirk at his idea.

"I'll text it to you." I said, and we ended our conversation and I text the number straight to him like I promised and went back to the kitchen in a better mood than I thought I would be.

"I'm so fired." I heard Naruto whine when I got there, his face buried in his hands and Gaara was trying to comfort him as best as he could.

I sat down in my chair before I spoke to let Naruto know I was back.

"Hey, Naruto …" I said before his head shot up from his hands, he didn't have to say anything to ask me what was said.

"Tsunade's calling that wench for you." I told him after a moment, and I could tell he was relaxing a bit, but he still looked tense. I wouldn't blame him.

"Alright." He said when there was a knock on the front door. I had forgotten all about the ramen when I went to make the phone call for Naruto and shot back up to my feet.

"There's the food, I'll be right back." I said as I left the room and answered the front door to find the old man that owned the ramen stand in the middle of town, I could only smile when I saw him.

"Two box orders of ramen, one barbeque pork and the other a vegetable ramen." He said, and I nodded as I took the two boxes from him and handed him a five dollar tip. "How's Naruto doing? I haven't seen him at my shop in a few days. I was starting to worry until you called ordering a whole box order of his favorite."

"He's doing fine, just sore from over exercising and hurting himself earlier this week." I told him, keeping to the lie Naruto made because I knew if anything else was said, it would be a disaster.

"Well, tell him to take it easy and I hope to see him soon." The old man said with a wave as he pocketed the tip and walked off to his car.

"I will." I waved back and closed the door. Walking to the kitchen with the two orders and set them down on the table. I could have sworn I saw Naruto drooling at the smell of his ramen and tried to reach for it before I pulled it back away from him.

"You have to wait until everyone gets their food Naruto, and you have a whole box order to yourself." I said before giving Gaara his order and mine before pushing the barbeque pork box over to Naruto and pulled the first order out for him.

"You're mean." He pouted before I put his food down for him. I could see why Gaara blushed around him all the time.

"Itadakimasu." The three of us said when I sat down and grabbed our chop sticks and started eating, though Naruto shoveled his food into his mouth like there was no tomorrow.

"Slow down Naruto or you're going to choke." Gaara warned.

"I'll be fine." Naruto smiled after swallowing his huge bite of noodles and went back to shoveling it in. Gaara was the first one laughing when Naruto suddenly started coughing a few times before forcefully swallowing what was in his mouth.

"Told you so you dork." Gaara said and patted Naruto's back softly as he coughed a few more times before he was breathing regularly.

That's when my phone rang in my pocket. Shocking me because I wasn't expecting a call from anyone, so I quickly pulled it out to see who it was, and it was the school's number and answered immediately. "Sasuke Uchiha speaking …"

"Sasuke, make sure Naruto doesn't go to work tonight, if he does I'll tie him to his chair and I'll get his boss sued for making an injured worker come in to work." Tsunade's voice said into my ear. I could tell she was trying to talk quietly so Naruto couldn't hear her.

"Will do, thanks for the call." I said, making sure not to say her name and she didn't seem to mind before we said our good byes and hung up the phone. Naruto was glaring at me when I pocketed my phone again.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"Itachi, he wanted to know what we were thinking about having for dinner and suggested some type of stir fry and we were to discuss what meat to have with it." I lied, well, half lied, Itachi text me a few hours ago asking that and I hadn't talked about it until now. Good thing I had something to fall back on.

"Whatever, I think we should have shrimp." Naruto said as he crossed his arms, though I could tell he didn't believe what I said.

"That sounds good." Gaara said, and I could tell he sounded genuine. "I have yet to try shrimp."

"You've gotta be kidding me Gaara!" Naruto squealed. "Shrimp is amazing!"

"I got a question for you two." I found myself saying before I could stop myself while texting Itachi saying that we'd like shrimp stir fry.

"What would that be?" Naruto said, and I think Gaara knew what I was going to ask because he started blushing a little bit.

"Are you two a couple yet?" I asked, knowing that if I didn't ask, I'd be beating myself over until I knew.

"I can't believe you'd ask such a thing …" Naruto mumbled as he blushed darker than Gaara and looked over at him, probably hoping he'd talk instead of him.

"Yes, we're a couple." Gaara said, and I could see Naruto relax once again, but blush darker than earlier. "We've been a couple for a couple months now."

"Really?" I asked, shocked because I'm usually good at telling who's a couple or not.

"Yea, we wanted to wait and let others know but, now that you know, I think it's alright." Naruto said.

"My father doesn't know, so please don't tell anyone." Gaara said. "You know how my father is."

"I do, and I promise not to tell." I said with a small nod, and I was serious.

"My Dad doesn't know either, and you know how he is." Naruto said, and I could tell he was worried a little bit.

"You know I won't tell that bastard." Gaara hissed, though I think he hissed because of who was on the subject.

"I know you won't, but … you know how he can find anything out if he wants to." Naruto said, then looked at me.

"I swear, if he finds out, I'll kick his ass for thinking about hurting you." I told him, and they both knew I was serious.

"So you know what his dad's like?" Gaara asked me.

"I do … for a long time I've known." I said, looking down because I felt ashamed for not helping him sooner than now. "I just wish I did something about it a long time ago."

"And you know I'd have kicked your ass for taking my father from me." Naruto said, his voice dark and I know, personally, that he'd do something to make me regret it.

"I know, I know." I said to make sure he'd take it down a notch before taking another bite of my soup. "Lets finish our lunch so we can get back to our homework. We have too much to do just to let it sit."

"I hate homework." Naruto pouted.

"Oh, and I have to warn you, tell Itachi before he finds out on his own." I said. "He'll do something out of his way to make sure it's as embarrassing as possible."

"What will he do?" Gaara asked.

"He takes pictures and blackmails." I said, truthfully. Last time I had a girlfriend, he took pictures and threatened to tell her father about us. It only worked because Sakura's father hates my guts.

Sakura only broke up with me about six months after the first threat of blackmail because she couldn't handle her father finding out one evening and ground her for life. I was okay with it, because I didn't want her to get in trouble and never see her again.

"So what about the great Sasuke Uchiha, does he have someone special?" Naruto asked with a toothy grin, I could tell he wanted some personal information, but I didn't want him to know … he's a loud mouth.

"I do, but I'm not telling you who it is." I said, half lying, I still wished to be with Sakura, but she said she wanted to wait a while before we got back together. I didn't blame her one bit, the last time we were together and talked about getting back as a couple, she said her father was bombarding her with questions about having a boyfriend. I made sure to mention that he's a little over protective, and she agreed with me one hundred percent.

"Is it Sakura?" Naruto asked, with that same grin and I found myself giving him a death glare before I could stop myself. "I knew it! You two need to find better hiding places, I hide on the top of the school during our free periods also when I'm not bombarding Tsunade-baa-chan with questions about my Mom." He added and stuck his tongue out at me.

"If you tell a single soul what was discussed here I'll make you wish you hadn't." I said.

"Don't worry, that's my trump card if you tell about us." Naruto said, and I somehow felt relieved.

"So, what was your Mom like, Naruto?" Gaara and I asked at the same time.

"From what Tsunade-baa-chan said, my Mom was a very nice person. Smart, valedictorian as a matter of fact, and she went to college for a couple years where she met my Dad. Baa-chan said that my father was a complete dunce, but also as smart as my mother and he was going to college for something to do with politics and all that." Naruto answered, and his face was beaming with a wide smile. I think he had been waiting for us to ask him that for a while now. "Baa-chan said my Mom wanted to get a psychology degree to help troubled teens or something like that."

"Sounds like your Dad was a good man … back then." Gaara said. "And that your Mom was a wonderful woman."

"Yea." I nodded, Gaara had taken the words right out of my mouth.

"Dad is only the way he is now because he's having an extremely hard time believing that Mom's actually gone …" Naruto mumbled as he looked down at his bowl and picked at it, I could tell the conversation was making him lose his appetite and I felt horrible for asking, I could tell Gaara felt the same thing.

"Well, Naruto, he has an ego that needs to be knocked down, because he should know that his wife would be flipping in her grave for how he's treated you all these years." Gaara said, and that seemed to lift his mood, but only a little bit.

"Who is good at trigonometry?" He asked, changing the subject.

"You're in trig?" I asked, beaming because I would have known if he was in my class or not.

"Yea, I was transferred into trig last week." Naruto said as he reached behind his head and rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. "I sit in the back behind Gaara."

"No wonder I don't see you in class." I huffed. "Well, what is it you need help with?" I asked and Gaara and I huddled around him as we both tried to explain it as simple as possible for him.


	15. Chapter 15 Naruto

Author's Note; Here's an early update! I was able to get some time to make this between my shifts today :) The update is short, but I'll be updating tomorrow as well if I have time between shifts like today! Hope you all enjoy this short update and review if you can! This is officially where it starts when I'm going to need some opinions on if I need to change anything and/or how to bring it back up later since I forgot to bring up this little problem in the future of this novel.

I love you all that's read this so far!

_**Chapter 15**_

_**Naruto**_

I couldn't believe that Sasuke saw Gaara and I making out! We had been trying so hard to hide our relationship that I completely forgot that Sasuke was the master of silence. And when he asked if we were a couple, I wanted to hide so bad that I would have forced myself to run away as fast as I could. But with Gaara there, we were able to entrust with Sasuke about our relationship, and we both blackmailed each other about our secrecy, especially since we now know who Sasuke likes. That wasn't a big shocker for the two of us, but we know what would happen if anyone found out. But hell, Itachi's evil!

And when they asked about my Mom, I thought I was going to break down, especially after their comments on how my Dad was before I was born. I honestly thought I would have started crying, but I was shocked when I didn't. But this was the first time I lost my appetite with ramen, and I vowed I'd never let my appetite drop for ramen ever again.

"Hey, Naruto, are you paying attention to anything we're saying?" Sasuke's voice echoed in my ear on my right as they were trying to help me with my trig homework. But everything that's happened since lunch was still occupying my mind and I zoned out of their explanation.

"Sorry." I mumbled and Sasuke sighed heavily in annoyance, he and Gaara had explained the same problem to me for the last ten minutes, and I could tell they both were getting frustrated.

"Naruto, wanna work on this later?" Gaara asked, his hand resting softly on my shoulder. He must know that I'm frustrated and a bit depressed, that's the only time I can't concentrate on anything.

"Please?" I asked, hoping Sasuke would understand, but he sighed heavily again and went back to his seat and turned his laptop on. I just hoped I wasn't going to be getting on his nerves while I stayed here.

Looking down at my lap, I sighed heavily when Sasuke became quiet while Gaara put our stuff away, leaving the room only for a moment before coming back and sitting next to me to finish his soup.

I sighed once again and wheeled myself out of the room. The kitchen had enough tension in it to make someone suffocate, and I knew all of it was coming from Sasuke. So I decided to go lay down and give my back a rest from sitting up for the last six hours. But I got even more frustrated when my wheelchair got caught on the lip in the doorway that separated the living room from the kitchen.

"Let me help you." I heard Gaara say as I felt him grab the chair and push me over the lip, but I took over once I was into the living room.

"Thanks, I'm going to go lay down …" I said and wheeled myself to the spare room I was using and left Gaara in the kitchen. I just hoped I didn't hurt him while I was being cold, and I wasn't trying to be either.

When I got to the bedroom, I wheeled myself inside and shut the door before wheeling over to the bed and forced myself to my feet and onto my stomach on the bed. I hadn't realized I was holding my breath until I was comfortable and closed my eyes, but I couldn't fall asleep like I wanted.

When I opened my eyes next, the entire room was pitch black. I must have fallen asleep and not realized it.

I looked for an alarm clock, but I couldn't see any and remembered that there wasn't one. My internal clock was telling me that it was around eleven in the evening and I sighed heavily, I had just enough time to get to work if I were to get up and get my shoes on now and leave.

But I knew full well that I had to play my cards right in order to get out of the house without being caught. There wasn't an alarm system, so I knew I was good to go to let myself out without worry. But it was the fact that I had to be out of here before Itachi got home and pray that Sasuke and Gaara weren't up, though I knew that Gaara would be awake. He hasn't slept in two days save for the small nap he had yesterday.

I sighed heavily and heaved myself up onto my knees before I stood up and sat in the wheelchair. I debated for a moment if I should take it with me, but I knew I'd never get out of the house with it if I did, so I was going to leave it here and tip toe my way out of here.

I got up and walked to the door, opening it slowly and was glad that it wasn't squeaky and made my way to the bathroom that was down the hall and I found myself completely relieved once I saw no one was in it and locked myself in the bathroom.

After I was done using the bathroom, I stared at myself in the mirror Itachi replaced this morning and saw that my hair was a complete mess and searched for a brush to try and tame it. I failed miserably because that's just the way my hair is and sighed as I left the bathroom only to find Gaara standing in the door way.

"Oh, hi Gaara." I said, hoping he wasn't going to be pissed off with me for walking around and not using the chair.

"I was just waiting until you were done." He yawned. He must have been asleep a few moments ago.

"Oh, okay, hey, is Sasuke up?" I asked in a whisper because I realized that the house was dark.

"No, he went to bed two hours ago." Gaara nodded as he walked in before I walked out.

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning." I yawned, glad it wasn't a fake one because I was honestly exhausted mentally like the nap I took did absolutely nothing and closed the door for him.

When I heard him lock the door, I quietly made my way to the front door and slipped on my shoes and made my way outside and quietly closed the door and left the property before Gaara realizes I'm gone.

It took me ten minutes longer than it usually took me to get to work and I was heaving and seeing black in my vision because of the pain my back was in. But I wasn't going to be allowed to rest for long when Mari, my boss, walked up to me with a pissed off expression on her face and her arms crossed.

"You're ten minutes late for work." She growled, her teal eyes staring me down as her orange hair fell past her shoulders. I could tell she was waiting for me to come into work so she could go to the bar down the street. And she hated it when she wasn't there at midnight.

"I'm sorry." I heaved, my breathing not wanting to go back to normal as my legs started shaking a little bit.

"Sorry isn't good enough, and because you're late you're working all day tomorrow and all day Sunday along with your regular night shift without breaks." She said, and she knew that was impossible, but she'd make me do it anyway. It was so like her. "And take that piece of shit off, it's not part of your uniform."

"Yes ma'am." I said, forcing my breath to get regular before I limped into the kitchen, taking my brace off and put on my apron before I got to work on making sandwich orders that were starting to pile up. I had a hell of a time getting my vision to go back to normal, but it took five minutes before I could properly make the sandwich orders.


	16. Chapter 16 Sasuke

Author's note; Helllooooo! Another update :) I'm not sure if I'm updating tomorrow, but it's probably highly likely that I will. Any who, I hope you all like this chapter! I swear, after this one, I think that Naruto's chapters will be longer ... -I don't remember!- And review if you think you like how the story is going so far or if I need to change something :)

Naruto: I hate you! Meany -cried a little.-

Sasuke: Why are you putting him through so much pain! And why are you making me so OOC?

Itachi: I think you're better this way ...

Sasuke: You have no say in this Aniki!

Naruto: Shut up! All of you!

Me: ... On with the chapter? o..o

_**Chapter 16**_

_**Sasuke**_

I was forced awake when I heard someone screaming someone's name. I growled angrily and looked at my alarm clock to see that it was after midnight. Then someone with red hair barged into my bedroom and shook me until I was fully awake and I glared at Gaara with the promise of death if he didn't explain to me in a calmed voice why he was waking me up so late.

"Calm down and tell me why the fuck you woke me up after midnight Gaara." I hissed and rubbed at my eyes when he finally let me go.

"Naruto is fucking gone!" He screamed, and now I knew why he was in such a frantic mood. All I could do was pale and stare at him.

"How is he fucking gone?" I asked as I jumped out of bed and went to look myself.

"He must have left while I was in the bathroom!" Gaara said and I could tell he was bewildered that Naruto would just up and leave like he just did.

"When did you go to the bathroom?" I asked, I wanted to get a clearer picture of when Naruto could have possibly left as I put both of my hands on Gaara's shoulders to try and calm him down before he had a mental break down.

"The clock read around eleven forty when I heard him get up, I was half asleep and standing outside the bathroom about ten minutes later and I went in when he was done. I thought he went back to bed but when I went back to the living room to lay back down, I saw that the front door was cracked open. I just went to his room to see if he was in there and he wasn't." Gaara said in one breath, the anger growing in his eyes as he spoke.

"What time is it now?" I asked, not remembering what the exact time was.

"It's fifteen after midnight." Gaara answered. "Where in the hell could he be at this time of night?"

It took me a moment to think about where the stupid idiot could have gone before it dawned on me. Midnight. Friday … "Oh my God! He went to work!"

"But I don't even know which McDonalds he works at." Gaara said, and he sounded more worried than angry again and I ran to my laptop which was plugged in in the kitchen and turned it on.

"I have the number, we should be able to find out which McDonalds it is by the phone number." I explained when my computer booted back to the log in screen and I input my password and waited another minute before everything was up and running. It was only quick at turning on because I had put it to sleep than turned it off completely. I mentally patted myself on the back for not turning it off like I usually did and went straight to the internet and used the yellow pages website to find the McDonalds.

"I'll look while you call your brother." Gaara suddenly said as he took the computer from me and typed the phone number when the site was fully loaded. I wanted to say something, but considering the mood he was in, I let it slide and quickly called Itachi while I went and put my shoes on at the front door, ready to leave once Gaara had the address down.

Itachi answered the phone in two rings and he sounded exhausted when he spoke, "Is everything alright Sasuke?"

"No! Naruto is gone!" I yelled into the phone on accident.

"I'm just down the street, be outside waiting with the address to his work." Itachi said, and he sounded like he was beyond pissed off when we ended our conversation.

"I got the address." I heard Gaara say as he left the kitchen and came to the front door and slid his socked feet into his shoes. I was only wearing sandals because I didn't want to look for socks, we didn't have time for that.

"Itachi's about to pull into the drive way now." I told him, and as soon as we got outside, Itachi pulled into the drive way and we were inside the car within seconds before Itachi took off in the direction we pointed him to.

When we got to the McDonalds that owned the number we called earlier, there were cars everywhere, and when Itachi found a parking spot after five minutes of looking for one and the three of us got out of the car, but Itachi told us to stop before we went inside.

"Wait a moment, I'm calling Tsunade, I want her here to help us talk Naruto into going home." Itachi said as he pulled his phone out and called Tsunade, though I never knew he had her personal number. I guess they exchanged numbers earlier in case something like this happened.

"Tsunade, yea it's Naruto. We're at the one by the bank … yea, we'll need you for this." Itachi said into his phone, and I could tell Tsunade wanted to yell in his ear for waking her up, but the conversation was over quickly and Itachi leaned against his car with his arms crossed. "She's on her way here now. Five minutes and we can go inside."

"Alright." Gaara said, and I could tell he wanted to go inside and rip Naruto from where he stood and throw him into the car for making him worry like this.

"Gaara, I'm sure Naruto's alright." I said, putting a hand on his shoulder, and he seemed to relax a little bit at the reassuring words I was telling him.

"Not when Tsunade is done with him." Itachi said, and I wished that he kept his mouth shut, but he did have a point.

Gaara only nodded, but I could tell he got nervous at the mention of Tsunade reprimanding him once again. That's when I knew to be quiet, because I knew anything else about Naruto and Tsunade in the same sentence might make Gaara lose it completely, and like she knew we were talking about her, Tsunade drove into the parking lot and parked in the middle of the drive area. She wasn't going to be here long, and we all knew it.

"Alright, lets go get the idiot." She said once she got out of the car and slammed her door shut. Yea, she was beyond pissed off at the moment.

We all only nodded and followed her inside and forced our way to the front of the counter. Itachi knew better than to say anything and all three of us let Tsunade do all the talking.

"Where's Naruto?" She asked, straight to the point and I only hoped that Naruto was doing okay. The place was filled to the brim with college aged customers because Konoha College was down the street and around the corner.

"He's busy right now, is there anything I can help you with?" The girl at the counter said, I could tell by just the sound of her voice, she wasn't who I talked to when I called.

"I don't give a rats ass if he's busy, he's not supposed to be here. And I want to talk to your boss, where is she?" Tsunade said.

"She's clocked out for the day, and like I said miss, Naruto's busy, is there something I can help you with?" She said, and she was even starting to get me pissed off.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you as deaf as that bitch I talked to earlier?" Tsunade asked, her voice dripping in venom as she leaned over the counter, her face calm and that was never a good sign. "But I told her that Naruto is suffering from a back injury and is unable to work for a couple months. I'm his doctor and behind me are the people that's taking care of him right now and would like to take him home."

"Miss, you're as blonde as our boss said you were and said Naruto's not leaving until his shift is done at five o'clock Monday morning." She said, and now I was ready to rip her head off, but Gaara beat me to it when he pushed Tsunade to the side, reached across the counter and grabbed the girl by her hair and pulled her to him.

"You better send Naruto out here right now before you say good bye to your hair, your teeth and are going to be in the hospital in a coma." He threatened, his voice quiet but dark. "Because I'll scalp you where you stand."

"Gaara, you and Sasuke go in the back and get Naruto, Itachi call the police." Tsunade ordered, but it took Gaara a moment before releasing the now frightened girl from his grasp and the two of us went through the employee entrance by the bathrooms, Itachi was already handing Tsunade the phone when he was done dialing the number. He knew better than to talk himself, so he let Tsunade have her way.

"Gaara." I said before we walked through the door and I pulled him to me, hugging him as I spoke. "Calm down, okay? It's not going to do Naruto any good if we go back there and yell at him right now."

"I know, I just want to get him out of here and home so he can get better." Gaara said as he hugged me back, and I'm shocked at what I'm doing now, anyway, this was all new to me and I honestly don't know when I got so caring in the first place.

I remember that I used to just pick up the little things that Naruto dropped when people purposely bumped into him in the hallways and sometimes helped him pick his stuff up if he was late to class. He must have rubbed off on me faster than I realized he could.

"You can let go of me now Sasuke." Gaara mumbled and I realized I was still hugging him and backed off quickly.

"Sorry, lets go get Naruto." I said to try and help myself forget the little 'hugging too long with your best friends boyfriend' bit and the two of us went through the door and into the kitchen area of the restaurant.

"Naruto!" Gaara called out before I did.

"I'll look in the food storage area." I told Gaara and went off towards the fridge and freezer, only to find nothing, but I could hear Gaara yelling up where the sandwich station was and rushed over to find that Naruto was on the floor and Gaara was trying to wake him up.

"Wake up Naruto!" Gaara screamed again as he kept tapping Naruto on the face.

"Gaara, he's not wearing his back brace." I said, realizing that it was missing when I looked Naruto over and found it on the floor by the door we just walked through.

"I'm going to kill that fucking bitch!" Gaara said, and I could tell he wanted to make it a promise as I went to go get it and he took it from my hands before I helped him lift Naruto and helped him put it back on the unconscious blonde.

But he wasn't unconscious for long, because Gaara and I both noticed his eyes flicker open for a brief second and mumble something we both almost missed him saying.

"Is it Monday yet?" He asked, and I could see Gaara pale more than he usually did.

"It's Friday night still Naru. We're here to take you home." Gaara whispered as he and I tried to get Naruto to his feet, but all it did was make Naruto cry out in pain and we had to lay him back down on the floor.

"I'm getting my brother, be right back." I told Gaara and rushed out of the kitchen and to the front where we saw Itachi and Tsunade talking to a couple policemen. Shit. "Hey, Itachi, we need your help."

"I'll be right there." Itachi said a few seconds later, and I ground my teeth together.

"We can't get Naruto off the ground." I said, and Tsunade was the first person to stop talking and stared at me in horror.

Then Tsunade muttered something to Itachi and he nodded before he came jogging after me and followed me to where Gaara and Naruto was.

"Gaara found him, and he wasn't wearing his back brace. He was talking just before I came out here and he was asking if it was Monday." I told Itachi, and I hoped he could help somehow.

"We didn't bring his chair did we?" Itachi asked, and I knew we forgot something.

"Fucking hell no." I hissed.

"I'll carry him on my back." Itachi offered and I looked over to Gaara to see if it was alright with him and he was already trying to get Naruto up again. I nodded a little and helped him get the blonde onto Itachi's back before he stood up and then the door behind us opened and closed. I realized when I turned around that it was the employee entrance and saw a teal eyed woman with orange hair standing in front of the door in evening wear and staring at the three of us.

"What the hell are you doing back here?" She asked, and I recognized that voice and found myself smirking. And I got an idea to help get her away from the door.

"I was looking for you, and wondered where we could have a moment to chat." I said as Gaara and Itachi left the kitchen and up to the front where Tsunade and the police were.

"What would you like to talk about cutie?" She said as she smirked, and she didn't have to be close for me to know she was at a bar, I could smell the cigarette smoke and alcohol from here.

"Lets go to the bathroom, there it will be quiet and no one can interrupt us." I offered, making sure that the word 'bathroom' sounded like 'back room' because I knew there was a camera near by and I let her lead the way to the hallway before I grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the front of the restaurant.

"Hey, Itachi, this is the bitch I talked to on the phone." I said and tossed her in their direction, her heels clicking loudly on the floor until they were muffled where there were rugs up by the cash registers and she glared at me.

"No wonder I recognized your voice!" She hissed. "Officer, I hope you're here to arrest him, he was back in the kitchen probably trying to rob the place." She said as she turned to face the two police officers, who just looked at each other before grabbing her and hand cuffing her.

"Miss, you are under arrest for forced labor, endangering an injured employee and public intoxication." One of the officers said, and I couldn't help but smirk when I saw how shocked she was. It was hilarious. "Plus hiring an underage teenager also."

"And Jiraiya, take good care of her while I go and see if Naruto is alright." Tsunade said as she looked at the taller officer that had long white hair. Honestly it made me wonder if he was a cop at all. "And, bitch, if Naruto is in a worse condition than he was when I released him yesterday, I'm going to make sure he sues you and this company for all the bills that will have to be paid. And you probably pay him little to nothing anyway so you'll be paying for how ever long he's worked here also." She added and stormed out of the restaurant and towards Itachi's car, that's when I realized that Itachi and Gaara were outside with Naruto, and I waved at the officers before I followed her.

When I got to the car, Tsunade looked like she could tear someone in half, and she probably wanted to tear me in half since I was the one that promised to make sure Naruto didn't leave the house and failed. And to make matters worse, I was right.

"You said you'd make sure he wouldn't leave the house!" Itachi yelled at me before Tsunade could.

"I'm sorry! I went to bed early because he was sleeping when I went to bed." I said, truthfully.

"He's right Itachi, and if anyone should be blamed, it's me, I let him leave because I took forever in the bathroom after he used it." Gaara said, and it was weird for him to defend me, but he was also beating himself up so much that I thought he was going to have a depressing episode kind of like what Naruto had yesterday.

"Either way, he still managed to escape after having two people look after him." Tsunade said, apparently she calmed down after hearing our explanations and rubbed her temples in frustration. "He's going to stay in the hospital for the rest of the weekend. I'll get him his own room but I'll take him, you guys go home and get some sleep. Come visit in the morning. I'll also make sure he doesn't wake up again tonight so he can get some rest."

"Thank you Tsunade. We'll be there first thing in the morning when we get up. And I know this is asking a lot from you, but can you explain to my bosses that I have to be home for Naruto? You know what they said to me last time." Itachi said, and it was unlike him to beg someone else to help him explain why he needed time off work. This was all a little too weird for me right now.

"I will, and if they don't see reason, I'll make them see reason." She promised and Itachi helped put Naruto in the front seat of her car and buckled him up before she got in behind the wheel. "Be good Sasuke, Gaara, see you guys in the morning." She said and drove off, somewhat under the speed limit.

"Lets go home, we all had a very, very long day and I want to get home before I pass out." Itachi said, and I didn't blame him.

"Hey, let me drive for you. I do have my permit." I suggested.

"Great, thanks little brother." Itachi yawned and climbed into the passengers' seat and I climbed in behind the wheel. It had been a while since I was given the chance to drive, so Itachi had to remind me a few small things before I turned the car on and drove home.


	17. Chapter 17 Naruto

Author's Note; I'm sorry for being late on updating! I was away from internet this past weekend and I couldn't update until today since I had forgotten where I saved this chapter O..o? Yea, I know! And to explain, it's because I'm taking each individual chapter and making them separate documents and deleting them from the copy of the original draft so I know where to update from next and I accidentally didn't realize I saved this in my documents file instead of the made file for this story.

Naruto; Excuses, excuses!

Sasuke; I agree with you there dobe.

Me; Shut up, both of you! I've had a really hard time this past weekend :(

Itachi; I'll ground you both if you don't lay off...

Naruto; And how would you ground us Ita?

Sasuke; -glares-

Itachi; Simple ... Naruto won't see Gaara anymore for a whole month and Sasuke will be made to be as social as possible.

Gaara; Screw you! Take my Naruto away and I'll kill you! -Growls-

Naruto; Gaa-kun, don't listen to him, he's just mad because Tenshi is being an ass again.

Itachi; ... -Leaves.-

Sasuke; -Raises an eyebrow- They're fighting again?

Naruto; Yea, I overheard the conversation on accident ... but it wasn't really hard since Itachi was yelling and you weren't home to hear it. Ita was very pissed off.

Me; Lay off and let them read the damn story already! O..o!? Enjoy the chapter everyone :D

_**Chapter 17**_

_**Naruto**_

My whole body hurt. I felt like I was tied up by my wrists two feet off the ground and beat with an electric whip on every inch of my body. My head was pounding and I felt like I was laying on a rock. Every time I tried to move, it sent shots of pain through out my entire body, its point of origin; the middle of my back.

At some point, I could hear Gaara's voice, but it sounded so distant and so weak that I made myself believe it wasn't him, or anyone for that matter. Sometimes I could hear Sasuke and Itachi, but they were the same as well. One time I heard Tsunade's voice telling me to wake up, but I was awake, wasn't I?

After a while, the voices became quiet and I felt myself get surrounded by darkness. It was so thick that I could swim in it, but somehow I could still breathe like it was just air. I felt myself sinking in this darkness too, but every once in a while, I would hear the words 'don't give up' and 'keep fighting' that I would force myself to try and get to the surface of this darkness, but with each movement I made to the top, my body felt like it weight more and more.

But giving up is never in my vocabulary, and neither is it in my way of life, so I kept fighting until I reached the surface of that darkness and found myself opening my eyes a little bit at a time and groan when I tried to move my heavy body, and I only managed to move my right arm off either the bed or my stomach, I couldn't tell. But I knew I was alive and not in hell when I saw Gaara float into my field of vision and his eyes water before I felt him start clinging to me as he cried.

How long was I out for? I remember going to work and starting to put sandwiches together, and I always zoned out until my shift was over Monday morning at five, an hour before I had to be at school. So it had to be Monday … it just had to be.

"Get Tsunade!" I heard Sasuke's voice say to someone over Gaara's sobbing in my ears.

I tried to speak, but nothing came out of my dry throat, but apparently Gaara heard my silent pleas for water as he let me go and came back with some water, gently lifting my head so I could swallow it without choking, but I still ended up coughing after the first few swallows, but it became easier once my dry mouth and throat felt relieved and Gaara took the water bottle away.

I whined, wanting more, but he put a finger over my lips as he spoke. "Too much will make you get sick, you need to take it easy Naru."

"H-How long have … I been out?" I got myself to ask a little louder than a hoarse whisper. "And wh-where am I?"

"You're in the hospital … and you've been out for almost a whole week." Gaara answered before I felt his lips on mine and then my forehead. I could feel one of his hands petting my hair back.

"What happened, anyway?" I asked, wondering what the hell happened, but I don't remember if I've asked already or not.

"Well, we went to pick you up from work, and I found you on the floor." He answered, and I frowned. Did I really black out instead of doze off? "We also noticed you had taken your back brace off too. You're lucky that you didn't hurt your back more than it already was."

"I'm sorry." I said, feeling the tears well up in the corners of my eyes before Gaara clung to me again and held me in his arms before I felt him being pulled away and a bright light shined in my eyes before I realized that Tsunade was standing in front of me. I wanted to smack her hand holding the flashlight away from my face, but they were still too heavy to move properly. But luckily the light was gone in a few seconds and I had to blink quite a few times before my vision came back to normal.

"Well, gaki, you're lucky you didn't suffer from major head trauma when you fell and hit your head." She said, and I could tell she was still pissed off at me, but happy at the same time. "You're also lucky that your back wasn't injured more."

"And Naruto, you no longer work there …" Itachi's voice said, startling me because I had no clue he was even here.

"Why?" I asked as I glared at everyone in the room.

"Because, the place was closed down, permanently." Itachi explained, and I paled.

"What the hell am I going to do now?" I whined, trying to shift my body in the bed a little bit so I could sit up, but I was stopped the second I moved my arms to do so by Gaara putting a hand on my chest.

"Don't move, please." He said, and that got me worrying.

"Why can't I move?"

"Because I said so moron." Tsunade barked. "And your brace is off at the moment, you were comatose when we admitted you, so you didn't move a single muscle while you were here."

"Who's my nurse?" I asked, hoping it was Matatabi.

"Your nurses are Saiken and Kurama. And warning you now, Kurama has problems with troublesome patients and is not afraid to put you under sedation if you piss him off." Tsunade said, and I gulped loudly.

"If he touches me I'll kick his ass so hard he won't be able to sit for a month!" I yelled, pissed off because she knows full well that I have lost all trust for male nurses.

"He's as straight as straight can be, gaki, and besides, I can actually trust him. Today is his first day on the job." Tsunade said with a raised eyebrow as she crossed her arms at me.

"I don't give a rats ass." I spat, tensing up a little because I tried to sit up.

"Well Matatabi will let me know if anything happens." Tsunade said. "I have to go and check on the other patients before I go home." And with that she left.

"Home? What time is it?" I asked, it couldn't be night time already.

"It's almost eight in the evening, and you're probably starving. I'll order some Ichiraku ramen for you." Sasuke said before he dragged Itachi out of the room, leaving me alone with Gaara.

"I'll stay here Naru." He said as he pulled up a chair and sat next to my bed, grabbing my right hand and stroked it softly with his thumb on my palm. I felt like I was breaking inside because I knew that deep down inside him, that he was pissed off at me for doing what I did.

"I'm sorry Gaara." I whispered.

"No need to be sorry, okay?" He said. "You're here and that's all that matters."

"You're too soft on me." I chuckled lightly, knowing if I laughed harder than I did, my back would hurt like someone took a white hot prodding iron to it.

"I know, and you know how I am towards you. I can't ever be mad at you for very long." Gaara said with a smile, something I hadn't seen in a long while.

"I know … I know." I nodded, yawning a little bit.

"Just promise me something, okay?" Gaara asked, and when I looked at him, he was serious.

"What would you like me to promise?"

"Promise me you'll never do that again."

"I promise." I smiled, pulling my hand out of his and held out my pinky.

Smiling back at me, Gaara grabbed mine with his and we shook on it before he leaned in and kissed me on the lips. I smirked and grabbed his bottom lip with my teeth gently, and I honestly think he growled at me before I felt his fingers weave themselves through my hair to the back of my head, pulling me closer as we deepened the kiss. I could feel my skin crawling with excitement when I felt his tongue slip its way into my mouth.

I don't know when my eyes closed, but I know that I would have fallen out of the bed when Gaara suddenly pulled back at the sound of a camera taking a picture of us two making out for the first time in just about a week and I immediately started feeling pissed off, because I knew exactly who it was that took a picture.

"What the fuck do you want Itachi?" I asked before Gaara could, and I genuinely sounded pissed.

"I now have blackmail on both you two and my brother." Itachi smirked, just when Sasuke came into the room and looked puzzled to see how Gaara and I were beet red and pissed off now.

"Itachi … what the hell did you do?" Sasuke said, but I knew deep down he wanted to yell and pulverize his older brother.

"You show anyone that, my father will find out and he'll -" I started saying and cut myself very short to make sure no one heard what I was about to say. And dare I say it, they were all looking at me, wanting me to finish my sentence. Gaara, especially, wanted me to finish what I was saying.

"He'll do what?" He asked, and I knew I was in for it if I didn't think of something quickly.

"He'll probably keep me locked up in our basement and never let me see the daylight again. He's completely against same sex stuff." I lied, well, half lied, but I knew he'd sell me off to some man whore sex ring to make sure I was out of his life for good.

Like hell I'd tell Gaara, Sasuke and Itachi that, not when they know how he's with me already.

"Well, Naruto, your ramen is here, would you like to eat now?" Sasuke said as he walked up to the side of my bed and put a box down on the table next to me, and I could have sworn I was drooling at the smell of it.

"I'll put your bed up into position for you, but lets put that brace on before we do anything." Gaara said, and he was right, I'm never taking it off unless I'm changing or taking a shower ever again.

I hadn't realized that the brace was only unfastened until Gaara lowered the blanket to about my waist and started snapping it into place, that's also when I realized that it was a different back brace from the one I had before I blacked out.

"Did baa-chan make me get a different back brace?" I asked.

"Yea, she said this should fit you better than the other one did, and she was right." Gaara answered when he was done and pushed the button on the arm of the bed and my head started to go up.

It felt like major relief when I was able to finally sit up because I now wasn't laying directly on my back like I was, and I think everyone realized how much stress was taken off of it when I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding.

"Well, you're finally awake, Naruto." An unfamiliar female voice said when the door opened back up, and I tensed again, only because I didn't recognize her at all.

"And who the fuck are you?" I asked, glaring at her, her short green hair making a huge contrast against her golden eyes, and she was smirking, which made me even more pissed, until I saw the guy standing behind her with red hair and red eyes.

With my only hand that wasn't strapped with IV's or anything else, I reached and grabbed the back of Gaara's shirt and pulled on it, hoping he'd get the message that I wasn't comfortable anymore. Hell, I didn't even know I was shaking until I realized my hand was in a fist.

"I'm sorry, but he can't come in." Gaara said, giving his famous death glare to the red head as he crossed his arms. He was deadly serious when he was calm like this.

"Don't worry, I don't feel like going in anyway. His hair gives me a headache." The guy said, and I glared.

"Well sorry that I'm not weird like you two!" I found myself yelling.

"Don't worry, my hair isn't natural." The woman said as she laughed a little. "And you really don't remember me?"

I blinked, staring at her for a moment, then it finally dawned on me.

"You're the one that helped me get in here on day one!" I said, though it was loud enough to be called a yell as I pointed at her.

"You finally remembered." She smiled.

"You can come in, he stays put or I'll rip him to shreds." I threatened, but the last bit was actually a promise.

Then the red head nurse rose an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"I'm sure that Tsunade explained the situation to you two." Itachi said, hoping to get some light on the small misunderstanding.

"She did, and that's why I'm not going in." The red head said. "I'm here to help, but if the one that's getting my help and wants to do nothing but kick my ass I'll stay away. But I have a few suggestions that I'd like to say that might help you trust in me a little bit."

"Like I'd listen to you, jerk." I said as I pulled Gaara back a whole step, I didn't like how the red head was looking at me.

"Since I'm new here, I have to follow a registered nurse, and that's Saiken, if you wouldn't mind me coming in and observing, keeping my hands in your view at all times, I'll never lay a single finger on you." The red head said, and I rose an eyebrow.

"What are you getting at?" I asked.

"What he's saying, Naruto, is that he has to follow Saiken around until he gets the proper training he needs to help. He is on day one and it's a full week before he can officially help someone." Saiken explained. "I swear, if he lays a finger on you, you won't be the only one kicking his ass. But I don't think he will anyway."

I growled as I glared at the two, I honestly wanted him to go as far away from me as possible, but it looked like that was never going to happen. "Fine, whatever, I don't care, but one or two of these three better be in the room when you two get here" and I forced myself to let go of Gaara's shirt and eat my ramen that Sasuke and Itachi went out of their way to get. I didn't want to let their offer go to waste, it's not cheap getting a box order of ramen from Ichiraku.

"Well, I just came to say hello Naruto, we'll be back in a few hours." Saiken said, and I could see her wave as her and the red head left the doorway and I could finally relax once his red eyes were finally off of me.


	18. Chapter 18 Sasuke

Author's Note; I know, probably an early update, but I'm bored and taking a break on that short story I started and published half of called The Slow Road to Insanity. I'm almost done and it'll probably be published later tonight. I'm also going to work on Monsters Inside Me and publish that tonight as well. So then I'll be able to focus on My Life as a Roller Coaster and get that published when I can this weekend. Gawd, I forgot how much hard work it was to keep up with multiple stories!

Well, hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I'll post again this Sunday :)

_**Chapter 18**_

_**Sasuke**_

I was glad that Naruto finally woke up after five days of being comatose, but I wasn't expecting him to go off on the male nurse Tsunade called Kurama. And what shocked me was that he agreed to let him in the room. You didn't have to look at him to know he was upset, he was emitting it from himself like a furnace emitting heat to warm up a room. And it was getting so thick that it was becoming hard to breathe.

"Hey, Naruto, do you want me to stay with you and Gaara, or do you want me to go home with Itachi?" I asked, wondering what the blonde would say when he finished his last bowl, out of four, in fifteen minutes. A new record time for him.

"You can stay if you want. I mean, I've kept you both from school long enough, you're the Valedictorian and you should be at school." He said, and I could tell he felt guilty for the two of us missing school.

"Don't worry about that dobe, Tsunade is reasonable and she knows what's been going on." I said with a shrug. "And it's just a title, not something I actually care about."

And I was being truthful, too.

"But …" Naruto started saying before Gaara interrupted him.

"Naruto, for now, worry about only yourself and getting better so you can go back to school, okay? We'll handle ourselves just fine." He said, and he had stolen the words out of my mouth.

"But Gaara." Naruto whined, but all three of us knew Naruto didn't have the heart to put himself before others, it wasn't his personality, and the only reason his father wasn't behind bars already.

"No buts, Naru, now that you're done eating, try to get some rest okay? I'll be here." Gaara said, and I could tell that these two were actually meant for each other, and it was too creepy how well they went together.

"Well then, since Gaara has the floor, Itachi and I are going home, okay?" I said, looking between Naruto and Gaara for a moment before my eyes landed on Naruto.

"Sleep well you guys." He said with a small smile, but we all knew he was feeling hurt inside.

"See you in the morning Naruto." I said as I waved and walked out of the door, Itachi took his time saying good bye, and I wanted to go home to go to bed so I waited for him by the elevator, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed as I closed my eyes for a moment.

In all honesty, I wanted to go home and take my glasses off. Since I had worn contacts for so long, I wasn't used to wearing them and they were a little irritating, especially when they got dirty and I had to clean them every few minutes.

I couldn't wait until I got my contacts in a few months. The only reason I didn't have them now was because Itachi wanted to keep within his yearly budget. Yes, we might be rich, but his yearly spending budget was no more than fifty thousand, and we were hitting it close this year, and we still had a couple holidays to reach yet.

Then I felt a tap on my shoulder and thought it was Itachi saying we could go, but when I opened my eyes, all I saw was the red head nurse from earlier and I glared.

"What do you need?" I asked, though I wasn't trying to sound as rude as I did.

"I have some advice for your blonde friend." He said, and he was as serious as a damn heart attack. "Make sure he steers clear of Yaguro, I have friends inside his loop that spy on him and his whereabouts, and last I heard he's working for a group called Akatsuki."

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked.

"Because if the blonde heard it, he'd never trust this hospital as long as he's alive and you know it." He said. "And do you know the name Jiraiya?"

"I heard it, he's the cop that arrested Naruto's boss the other night." I said, recalling the last time I heard the name before.

"He's one of the people working undercover and getting information about this group. And from what he's told me, nothing coming from them is good. They're a sex ring that takes in children and trains them before selling them. But lately, they're going after certain people as young as you guys." He explained. "I want you guys to keep Naruto as close to you as possible and never let him out of your sight. These people know how to make themselves slip in and out of surveillance faster than a sexual predator capturing his next victim."

"I'll keep it in mind, but how can I trust you?" I asked, noticing that Itachi hadn't shown up yet and was wondering what was taking him so long.

"Tsunade and Jiraiya are child hood friends that grew up together. You could say that they might possibly be a couple, but they're not." He said, and that gave me a clue as to talk to Tsunade to see if he's telling the truth or not. I guess I'm going to school tomorrow.

"Tell Naruto I'm going to school if I don't call his room by nine. I'm usually in bed by then." I told him. "And it's Kurama right?"

"Yea, and I will. Stay safe yourself, Jiraiya told me to make sure you and your brother watch each others backs as well, but he didn't give me a reason why." Kurama said.

"I'll tell Itachi on the way home." I nodded when I saw Itachi finally leaving Naruto's room and walk down the hallway, his face buried in his iPhone and I only shook my head when he reached the elevator and I pushed the button then.

"See you later Uchiha." Kurama said as he waved and disappeared to find Saiken for all I know.

"I have to talk to you on the way home, Itachi." I sighed when the doors finally opened and the two climbed inside before the doors closed and we went to the second floor and walked off towards the car garage.

"What do we need to talk about?" He asked.

"It's about Yaguro." I mumbled so no one would hear us as we got inside the car garage and walked towards our car which was parked only a few cars away from the doors we walked through.

"Then lets wait until we're inside the car." Itachi whispered before we climbed into the car and I let him drive home. I was too tired to get behind the wheel tonight.

"What the hell you're saying, is that Yaguro works for a sex ring group called Akatsuki and that they're after Naruto?" Itachi asked once we were in our drive way, parked and had the car turned off. He was going to be more pissed about this than me. "And that they're after Naruto and that the two of us need to watch out too?"

"Yea, that's what Kurama said, and he said, not in the exact words, to talk to Tsunade about all this to see if he's telling the truth or not." I told him with a small nod.

"I'm talking to Tsunade, you're going to your classes. This is bullshit! If she knew about Yaguro, she wouldn't have made him his nurse." Itachi hissed, and I knew not to mess with him when he's pissed. "This is the shit that pisses me off."

"Hey, Itachi, clam down, I'm not happy about this either." I said. "But it could also be that she didn't know about Yaguro until after everything happened."

"You're right." Itachi said after taking a few breaths, finally calming down enough to get out of the car with me and go inside.

It was unbelievably cold tonight, something that usually didn't happen in mid September, but it's Konoha, Japan, we've had weirder weather before.

"Hey, Itachi, make sure Tsunade knows who Kurama talked to, because I don't want her thinking that he's turning on her. I just don't get that vibe from him. He might be an ass in a way, but I don't think he'd be that kind of an ass." I told Itachi once the door was shut and locked behind me. He was already in the kitchen probably to get a beer or a shot of Sake to help him get some sleep tonight, and I don't blame him one bit either.

"I will, but don't stay up too late yourself. As soon as I'm done with this," he said as he rose a beer bottle when I walked into the kitchen, "I'm going to bed. I'm so damn fucking lucky that tomorrow is my day off on all jobs."

"Finally." I muttered as I grabbed me a bottle of Diet Rite tangerine soda, an American soda that got my interest last year when I first tried it, and I've been hooked on it since then. Besides, I don't normally drink soda anyway, it's always veggie drinks and this is a good compromise once in a while.

"I'm not staying up too much longer." I said as I looked at the clock, and it was close to nine. I only shrugged it off and sauntered off to my room to be on my laptop working on my novel once again for an hour before taking my shower and hitting the pillow for the night. And besides, I had to call Naruto, let him know I was going to school tomorrow and realized I didn't have his room number.

So when I got to my room and closed the door, hearing the television in the living room on low, I knew Itachi might fall asleep on the couch before he's finished with his beer, and I pulled my cell phone out and called Gaara before I forgot.

"Gaara Sabaku speaking." He said when he answered his phone two rings later.

"Sabaku?" I chuckled. "Since when did you answer using your last name?"

"It's not funny Uchiha." Gaara snapped into my ear, and I knew I hit a nerve, but I don't know how.

"Did something happen after we left?" I asked, now talking seriously because something was off.

"Naruto forgot about letting Kurama into the room and had a panic attack." He said, no wonder he was upset. "He's fine now, but they had to sedate him to calm him down."

"I'm sorry Gaara, maybe I should have stayed over tonight." I said, now feeling guilty for going home.

"Don't worry about it, it would have happened either way, you know how forgetful Naruto is sometimes when he's stressed out even a little bit." Gaara sighed into the phone. "I'm sorry for snapping at you a few moments ago."

"Don't worry about it." I said, waving my right hand in the air like he was standing in front of me as I put my can of soda down and sat down in my computer chair, turning my laptop on and waited to it to load up.

"Alright, well is there a reason you called?" Gaara asked, and I could tell he was wanting to close his eyes and get some sleep since Naruto wasn't going to wake up at all tonight thanks to the sedation.

"Yea, tell Naruto I'm going to school tomorrow and that I'll come by afterwards." I said, now putting my password into my computer and waited for it to finish loading up. If I remembered correctly, my virus protection would update when it's loaded and I wouldn't be able to use it until it's finished. I'll take a shower while I'm waiting.

"Alright, I will." Gaara said.

"Thanks, see you guys tomorrow." I said, and we said our good byes before we hung up on our conversation.

I sighed, I hated waiting for the computer to fully turn on, it always took forever, even without the virus protection update, so instead of sitting there waiting, I got up and went to my dresser and grabbed my night clothes; a pair of black flannel night pants, clean boxers and a tank top I might not even put on and left my room and headed off to the master bedrooms' bathroom.

I dropped off my clothes and went to go and see how Itachi was doing, and I had predicted right; he fell asleep watching his favorite show with half the beer bottle gone.

I chuckled and pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a picture of the sleeping Itachi. I'd use that as blackmail later because Itachi always hated his picture being taken, it was something he hated his entire life.

After putting my phone away, I took the beer bottle and emptied it down the drain before putting it in the glass trash bin and turned the television off when I got back to the living room.

"Hey, Itachi …" I whispered as I gently woke him up so I could help him to his room better. "Nii-san, if you sleep on the couch all night you'll be too sore tomorrow."

"Mmn." Itachi groaned, but I knew he understood me when he reached out in front of him, barely awake to know what he was reaching for and I grabbed his hand and draped it over my shoulder before heaving him up onto his feet and let him use me as a crutch as we walked to his room next to the master bedroom.

Before I let Itachi fall on the bed, I quickly reached and pulled back the blankets before I helped him lay down and covered him up. I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm the oldest child instead.

"Thanks Sasuke." I heard him mumble before I heard him snoring lightly. I chuckled at how fast he fell asleep and left his room, closing the door quietly behind me and went to take my quick shower.

Tomorrow was going to take forever, and I wanted to be clean before I got to bed because I never have time to take a shower in the morning. I just hoped I was making a good decision to write on my novel a little bit before bed. But not having worked on it for a few days got me off my writing schedule and I wanted to catch up at least a little bit.


	19. Chapter 19 Naruto

Author's Note; Here's another update to Help Me :) I hope everyone is enjoying this story so far! I'll be updating Monsters Inside Me and The Slow Road to Insanity within the next hour or so. I need more time to do the last minute touches to both.

Naruto; You're so cruel ;-;

Sasuke; I know ...

Gaara; ... Cruelty is her specialty remember?

Itachi; Yea, no kidding. She is an Uchiha after all. -Smirks.-

Me; Lets get on with the story already please?

Naruto; Oh Gawd! The Uchiha said please!

Sasuke; She's a weird Uchiha, the rules of politeness destruction doesn't apply to her.

Itachi; She's a lot like mother ...

Me; Shut up! DX

_**Chapter 19**_

_**Naruto**_

Tsunade wouldn't let me leave the hospital for another week to make sure my head was doing okay from my fall and that my back was healing the way it was supposed to be. Surprisingly enough, it was already half way healed and I no longer needed the wheelchair except when it hurt too much to walk. And it was another week before she let me go back to school, which I thought was bullshit.

I still wasn't allowed to carry my school stuff, but I was alright with that, each one of my teachers let me leave class early and leave my stuff there that I needed for the class and was pretty much sympathetic with me. It was kind of weird, because not all of them even liked me. I'm just going to take a wild guess and say that Tsunade talked to them, set some ground rules and expected them to follow because they all knew her wrath.

But what was shocking me, though, was that I felt that Sasuke was avoiding me somehow, and it was pissing me off. Gaara, on the other hand, changed his class schedule so he could be with me at all times and clung to me like moss to a tree. It made me extremely happy and almost forget about Sasuke all together until school was done with and I had to go home to his place, all because my father was still in rehab.

"I'll call you later, okay Naruto? I have to help my father with some stuff so I have to go." Gaara whispered into my ear quietly, the two of us between his car and Sasuke's brothers' car, hiding from the other students, and kissed our good byes.

"I know, you told me this morning. I'm okay with it." I smiled, kissing him one more time before I hugged him tightly and let him go. "I'll call you if I don't hear from you by dinner time."

"That sounds good." He smiled and got into his car, the back seat since his brother took the passenger seat and her sister drove, since it was her car in the first place.

"Bye Naruto." Kankuro, Gaara's older brother, said as Temari, the oldest of the three, backed her car out and drove off, all three of them waving out their windows before I climbed into the car behind Itachi and sighed heavily.

Today had been nothing but questions after questions with everyone I was friends with. All of them asking where the hell I've been, if I was doing okay, and why I was wearing a back brace. But I answered them all with words I wanted them to hear and they left it at that. I was glad, it meant I didn't have to remember the truth and go into another great depression.

"Hey, Naruto, what would you like to do when we get home?" Sasuke asked, knowing that once Itachi dropped us off, he went back to work because he always picked us up during his lunch hour.

"I don't know, really, what would you like to do?" I asked, smirking because I'm sick and tired of Sasuke asking me what we could do all the time, even before I got hurt and we weren't around each other as often.

"You won't like what I pick." Sasuke said after a moment of silence, and I started wondering if asking him was the best thing I could do.

"Sasuke, not anything drastic, okay?" Itachi said, and that made me worry even more.

"Don't worry, I personally don't think Ichiraku is dangerous, or drastic." Sasuke said with a smirk, knowing that he was making me worry over nothing and I glared at him before I started drooling. I missed my miso barbeque pork ramen. "We're not walking there, but we're going to have him drop it off at the park that's half way between home and the restaurant so we can get out of the house for a little bit. It shouldn't hurt too bad to walk to the park and back, right Naruto?"

"You said it." I smiled, almost bouncing with joy and I would too if my back didn't hurt.

"And make sure you take your pain medicine, Naruto. Tsunade was strict on making sure you took it because it will help with the inflammation and will help you heal faster." Itachi said as we drove into their drive way and he put the car in park.

"I'll make sure he takes it." Sasuke said, but I got worried again and hesitated getting out of the car. I didn't want to take the medicine to begin with, and Tsunade knows my concerns when it comes to prescription narcotics.

"Is everything okay Naruto?" Sasuke asked, pulling me out of my daze and I realized that Itachi had already drove off and headed back to work.

"I'm fine …" I said before the two of us went inside his house and changed out of our school clothes into something that was more comfortable.

"If you were fine, you wouldn't be looking so pale, are you in pain?" Sasuke said, and he was right, but I didn't know I was pale enough for him to worry.

"I just need to lay down for half an hour, I'll be fine." I nodded, kicking my shoes off before I sauntered into the couch and laid down on my stomach. I could immediately feel relief and I closed my eyes, wanting to sleep for a few minutes before I felt a tap on my good shoulder, making me open my eyes again and see Sasuke kneeling next to me with a glass of water and two pills in his other hand.

I only glared at him and turned to look the other way.

"Take them, please, Gaara would want you to take them." Sasuke said, and I felt insulted for him dragging Gaara into this.

"You don't get it, none of you get it." I hissed, grabbing the pillow that my head was barely touching and clung to it. It was a soft pillow and I never realized how soft it was until now.

"Tell me so I can understand, please." Sasuke said, and just hearing him say the word please made me want to tell him, but in all honesty, I didn't want any of them to know.

"Don't tell Gaara what I'm telling you. He'll be pissed when he finds out I told you first instead of him." I said as I turned to look at him, watching him nod and I sighed heavily. "Addiction runs on my fathers' side of the family. His dad was addicted to narcotics, his grandma was addicted to alcohol and even OCD and hoarding run in the family." I explained in one breath, hoping he got it all so I wouldn't have to repeat any of it.

"No wonder your father caught onto alcohol so quickly." Sasuke mumbled, though I know he never meant for me to hear it.

"Sasuke …" I mumbled.

"Yea?"

"Don't make me take them, please." I begged, and that's something I never do.

"Take them, Naruto, and once Tsunade says the inflammation is gone, you can stop taking them immediately. You don't have to take them more than you feel like it." Sasuke said, now sitting himself down on the floor as he put the water down next to him. "Gaara, Itachi and I will make sure nothing happens. We all promised to help take care of you. And besides, I think Gaara would kick our asses if something happened to you and we didn't protect you when he wasn't around."

"Fine," I sighed heavily and sat up just enough to help get it down my throat as I opened my mouth for him to put the pills on my tongue and I reached out to grab the water from him, but he brought the glass to my mouth and I drank, not wanting to argue with him anymore and swallowed my pills, letting him take the glass away from me and set it on the table between the couch and the recliner.

"I think a walk might be out of the question." I said before Sasuke stood up and walked out of the room. "I feel like I'm going to fall asleep."

"Tsunade did say that they'd make you drowsy." Sasuke said as he went to the kitchen, probably to get the pill bottle. And I was right, he came back to the living room and sat on the recliner reading the pill bottle. "Yea, causes drowsiness, and may cause dizziness if sudden moves are made while standing after taking this medicine."

"Fuck this bullshit." I mumbled as I made myself comfortable again.

"If it helps, Naruto, it helps. You know Tsunade wouldn't make you take anything if it didn't." Sasuke said, but that still didn't make me feel any better as I closed my eyes, wishing sleep would take over so I could relax a little bit.

"Hey, Naruto, it's dinner time." I heard someone say as I was woken up from my peaceful slumber of dreaming I was with Gaara and we were at his house when there was actually no one home for once. When I saw Gaara speak, it was with Sasuke's voice and Gaara and I were just about to do the unthinkable in _his_ room when I snapped my eyes open and saw Sasuke kneeling in front of me and his face a little closer than I wanted it to be.

"I'm awake." I said quickly and quietly as I slowly sat up and stretched the best I could before yawning and rubbing at my eyes.

"You have five minutes to wash up, okay?" Sasuke said as he stood up and helped me to my feet. I wobbled for a few seconds, but I found my balance and thanked him before I walked around the couch and down the hall to the bathroom and locked the door shut behind me.

I was shaking by the time I put the toilet lid down and sat on it. I couldn't believe I had a dream like that about Gaara, when I'm in someone else's house!

I knew full well that I had a 'problem' to get rid of, and I had five minutes to get rid of it.

Growling to myself in embarrassed frustration, I grabbed a handful of toilet paper and unzipped my pants, pulling out my throbbing erection and started pumping it, slowly at first but it became too slow too quickly and I had to start jerking myself off while holding the toilet paper steady so I wouldn't release all over myself.

I had to bite my bottom lip hard before I could let out a mangled moan of pleasure and pain mixed together as my whole body tensed as I reached my limit and came hard into the toilet paper and my hand that was slowly riding out the experience.

This wasn't the first time I did this, no, it all started when I started dating Gaara last year, two months after he and his family moved here.

Panting hard from my pleasurable experience, I sat on the toilet a few more minutes to get my breathing back down to normal before I decided to finish cleaning myself up and flush away the evidence of what just happened. Proud with myself that nothing got on my clothes and washed up before I walked out of the bathroom, hoping no one heard me because I know, for fucking sure, that I let out a small moan before I bit my lip. When I looked in the mirror, my lip was swollen and bleeding slightly from how hard I bit it. I just prayed that no one asked me what the hell happened while I was in the bathroom.

"You took long enough Naruto." Sasuke smirked as he sat in his usual spot at dinner with his arms crossed and he looked like he found out a horrible secret about someone and was going to use it as blackmail.

"What the hell are you talking about teme?" I almost screamed, but I only squealed and sounded like a girl as I stood there, now looking down at the chair in front of me and blushing like a tomato, something I couldn't help doing. It was a natural reaction for me.

"Nothing, Gaara called and asked if you wanted to go see a movie with him in half an hour." Sasuke said, now I know why he was smirking. Thank fucking God that he didn't eavesdrop on me while I was in the bathroom. I'd never live that fucking down if he did.

"You can go Naruto, if Tsunade calls, I'll tell her you're sleeping." Itachi said as he took a bite of his food.

"Don't lie to her, tell her I'm with Gaara seeing a movie." I said. "I'm going to call him back and go get ready." I said, my blush gone and a smile upon my face as I left the kitchen and rushed to the guest room and closed the door.

A date, with Gaara, something we didn't do often, and I always treasured each moment we spent together each date we'd have. And I was going to make this one go into our 'bingo book' of dates as number one.

I couldn't help but grin at the ideas I had after we'd watch the movie, but I knew that my mind was being influenced by the dream I had, so I quickly looked for my best black skinny jeans and threw off the sweats I had changed into earlier before I took my nap and shoved them on carefully so I wouldn't hurt my back and searched for my favorite orange and black long sleeve that hugged my feminine curves perfectly and the sleeves reached just past my hands, which I loved, then remembered I needed to wear my brace over it, and hissed to myself for forgetting.

Then I got the idea of putting on a black tank top and wearing the brace underneath the shirt, and I needed Sasuke to help me, and it made me more embarrassed than I was while at the table waiting to see if Sasuke knew what I did in the bathroom or not.

"S-Sasuke-teme!" I yelled out, making sure that there was no pain behind calling his name, and I know teme being at the end of his name would let him know it wasn't an emergency.

"Whatcha need help with dobe?" Sasuke asked as soon as he walked into my room without knocking on the door. That irritated me, but hell, this was his house.

"I need help getting this blasted thing off." I said, blushing because I had yet to figure out how to undo the locks on this stupid ass brace. Tsunade did a great ass job in finding something that I couldn't figure out. And she knew it'd piss me the fuck off.

Sasuke only chuckled as he sat on the bed next to me and undid the brace like it was nothing and I lifted my arms a little so he could take it off and rest it on the bed. I felt so stupid because of this.

"I'm going to take a look at your back real quick, okay?" He said, and his hands felt cold on my skin once I had my tank top off that I had been wearing underneath the brace.

"Your hands are cold." I hissed, though it felt good at the same time as I turned so he could see it better.

"It looks much better than it did three weeks ago, and the stitches have finally dissolved." Sasuke said, and I could tell he was amused in my so called rapid healing, though I don't know why.

"Dude, teme … it's been almost a month, it actually should have been completely healed by now." I said, and he knew I was right.

"You are so impatient." Sasuke sighed as I put my fresh, clean tank top on and he helped me put the brace back on, then I threw the long sleeve over top so I could hide the hideous thing.

"Me, impatient? I'd like to see how. I'm the most patient person there is, I have an abusive father that I refuse to give up on who doesn't really deserve anyone in his life and to waste away in his fucking booze." I said, all in one breath as I looked down so I wouldn't meet his eyes. "Tell me again, that I'm impatient, Sasuke." And I walked out of the guest room and grabbed my cell phone out of my back pack that was near the couch.

"I wasn't being serious, Naruto." I heard Sasuke say as he followed me, I could tell he was getting irritated. Good.

"I don't care, Sasuke, leave me alone. I'm going over to my house so I can get a few things." I said and shoved my feet into my dress shoes and walked out the door and over to my place. I didn't have my key, but I knew where the spare one was.

When I got to my house, I bent down to get the spare from the dead pot plant and froze when I heard voices coming from inside _my_ house. Curious, I leaned against the door quietly so I could hear who it was, most importantly, so I could get a name to give to the cops for trespassing.

"I need more time, I have to have the perfect excuse so he'd come willing." I heard, and it was my Dad's voice … what the fuck was he doing here instead of at the rehab center?

"Of course you're going to get him, but am I going to get the money you promised?" My Dad asked. Money? And who the fuck was who getting? Now I'm starting to actually get pissed off.

"I already told you, he's sixteen, stubborn, but he'll listen if you give enough force." My Dad added after a moment, almost yelling, but I had heard enough and bolted from the front porch and down the street without getting the necklace that Gaara gave me; something I always wore only when we went on dates, and ignored the pain that came from my back. I just hoped Dad would never find it, nor ever find out that I heard him inside our house.

When I got down the street and turned into a parking lot for a small book store, I called Gaara, but I knew I should have waited for my breathing to go back to normal before I did, because now he was yelling at me.

"What the hell did you do to get your breathing like that?" He said, his voice loud and I had to pull the phone from my ear to keep my ear from ringing.

"I'll tell you when you pick me up, I'm at the book store down the street from mine and Sasuke's place. Please, hurry." I said, and I didn't know I was starting to cry until I heard I was sobbing into the phone.

"We're almost there, just two more minutes and we'll be there. Does Sasuke and Itachi know where you are?" Gaara said, and I knew he'd ask that.

"I'll explain when I get in your car." I said and hung up the phone, forcing my sobs to stop as I looked around for a place to hide when I noticed that the book store was actually open and quickly went inside. I was glad too, because I watched Dad walk by the store through the front window and just continue to walk on. It seemed that he didn't notice me.

And when I saw his face when he walked by, he looked as serious as a heart attack. I knew who he was talking about. Who else does he know that's sixteen, stubborn and will listen when you force them to? Sasuke might be stubborn, but he is a few months older than me and is already seventeen. Gaara is the same age as me, stubborn, but always listens when he's told to do something.

That left only me, and he was ready to sell me to someone, he didn't give a rats ass about me, and I should have known it from the start.


	20. Chapter 20 Sasuke

Author's Note; Here's another update :) And this marks ... 2/5th of the way through with some added chapters! Honestly, if I had three more chapters, we'd only be a quarter of the way through right now. Any who, I hope you all enjoy.

Sasuke; Maybe you should add a couple more chapters.

Naruto; Yea, that way you can settle my horrible incident at McDonalds that you forgot about.

Me; Hey! Don't mention that here! D:

Itachi; Naruto's right though, you did forget about it.

Me; Is everyone against me today? :(

Sasuke; No, just trying to critique your work is all ... -whistles-

Me; ... Sasuke's whistling ... Itachi! Sasuke's sick! D:

Itachi; -feels Sasuke's forehead-

Naruto; Oh Gawd, did hell freeze over!?

Sasuke; -swats Itachi's hand away- I'm not sick! And I'm a human being! I can whistle if I fucking want to!

_**Chapter 20**_

_**Sasuke**_

I had just about enough from Naruto, and I let him leave the house and slammed the door behind him when he left. I was beyond frustrated. Yea, I knew he was going through a rough time, but what about us? We gave up everything so he could have a roof over his head, food in his damned stomach and a place to call sanctuary.

"Sasuke, don't go off on him, please." I heard Itachi say from the kitchen area. He must be done eating already, I can hear him running water to rinse off his dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

I only stomped back into the kitchen and sat at my place, forcing myself to eat, but after a few bites I wanted to throw up and just slammed everything back down on the table.

"He's so goddamn impossible!" I yelled, not realizing I was shaking with so much anger and frustration that I almost spilled the bowl of rice I was eating onto the table.

"He just needs time. What would you do if you were in his shoes?" Itachi said, sitting back down next to me as he pulled his phone out and started text messaging his boyfriend.

"Don't make me, because I would have killed the son of a bitch." I snapped, just when my phone rang and I angrily pulled it out of my pocket and answered without looking to see who it was.

"Sasuke Uchiha, what the hell do you want?" I said, and regretted it when I heard Gaara talking quickly and really pissed off. "What's wrong?"

"I got Naruto, and he's in hysterics, saying that his father has been lying to all of us from the beginning about going to a damn rehab center and shit. We're coming back to your place so he can calm down." Gaara said and hung the phone up just as both Itachi and I heard squealing tires stop in front of our house and doors slam before our front door was pounded on so hard I thought it would break into pieces.

Itachi was in a better position to answer the door better than I was, and was there before the door started splintering and Gaara rushed into the house with Kankuro, both of them acting out as crutches for Naruto, who looked completely out of it.

"What the hell happened? Sure, he and I had a small argument, but it wasn't that bad." I said, apparently Gaara never knew about our dispute a few minutes ago.

"He said his dad was at his house, talking to someone on the phone, something about more time, money, and describing someone that fits Naruto's description! Sixteen, stubborn and will listen if you force him to." Gaara said, yelling by the time he was finished, and that's when I knew his anger hit a new level.

"Look, Gaara, is Naruto sure it was his father?" Itachi asked.

"It sure as hell was, we watched him walk down the road before we pulled into the book stores parking lot to pick Naruto up. He looked as sober as you could fucking get." Kankuro answered for Gaara, who now was sitting with Naruto, trying to calm him down as best as he could.

"What in the hell does Minato think he's doing?" Itachi cursed out loud and left the room, his phone already up to his ear, and I could only guess he was calling Tsunade and Jiraiya in a conference call.

It had turned out that everything Kurama said at the hospital was the complete and utter truth after Itachi talked to Tsunade this morning. And Tsunade beat herself hard for trusting Yaguro so quickly and found out that there were many sexual harassment charges against Yaguro from many male and female patients alike that never went through.

"It's official, Naruto's not going anywhere without one of us around, are you and Kankuro with us Temari?" I said as I gave tonight's events a quick, but very evaluative thought as I looked at both of them, hoping they'd give a good answer.

"Fuck yea, anyone who messes with our little brothers' lover will never get away with it." Kankuro said with a smirk that showed he meant what he said.

"What Kankuro said, and this is low, even for a bastard that hates his own son." Temari said, crossing her arms as she nodded.

"Great, and we're going to need all the help we get, I'd like it if all our friends helped Naruto, but knowing them, they'd never help without an explanation. And that means telling them all the truth." I said, and lowered my voice in the end. What the hell was I thinking? He'd never drag everyone into his problems.

"C-Call Shi-Shikamaru." Naruto suddenly said with a shaky voice, and we all looked at him like he was crazy. Shikamaru was nothing but a lazy ass who'd rather lay down in the grass and stare at clouds all damn day. "I won't be surprised if he's figured out what the hell has been going on lately, with his brains and all."

"I don't have his number, I'd have to talk to him at school tomorrow." I said, and I doubt that Naruto did, nor Gaara, had his phone number, that was until Naruto pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialed a number and handed it to Gaara to talk.

"I'll be right back." Gaara said, kissing Naruto on the temple before he disappeared into the kitchen to talk.

"If anyone else wants to help, I don't want their help." Naruto said, and his words were cold as ice, something I never thought he was able to do, ever. "I don't care."

I think Naruto's finally seeing his father for who he truly is, and he's taking it a lot harder than anyone thought. I just hoped he wouldn't do something stupid that he'd regret for his entire life.

"Tsunade and Jiraiya are on their way." Itachi said as he came back into the living room, just as Gaara did and handed Naruto his phone back.

"Shikamaru is on his way too." He said, and I was shocked.

"Why Shikamaru?" Itachi asked, then the look on his face showed that it dawned on him, and no one else … "I see, good thinking Naruto."

"What am I missing?" I asked, then it hit me. That's right, Shikamaru is a silent fucking genius who's now the valedictorian because of me missing school and being late on my homework assignments because I've been helping take care of Naruto. "Well I feel stupid."

"Don't be, I'm the one who forgot who his father was … many times." Itachi said as he walked around the couch, putting a hand on my shoulder for a moment before sitting in the chair next to the television and let the rest of us sit on the couch, recliner and love seat while we waited. Naruto, though, was still and looked like he was comatose with his eyes open. And it was starting to freak me out.

"Is Naruto going to be okay?" I asked, that's when he finally blinked and looked at me with empty eyes, something I might have to get used to now.

"I'll be fine." He said, then looked away from me before getting up and left the room. I had the feeling he'd go to the bathroom and lock himself in there again, but I was wrong when he went to the kitchen. I was glad that Gaara followed him to make sure nothing happened. Sighing, I decided to follow the blonde and the red head into the kitchen because I wasn't ready for another heated argument, especially if I wasn't part of it. My head hurt enough as it is.

"Naruto, didn't you already take some of those earlier today?" Gaara asked, and I knew exactly what was going on now.

"Naruto, the directions specifically said only every six hours, it hasn't even been five hours." I said, taking the bottle away from him before he could open it.

"I ran away from the house, I just want my back to stop hurting." He said, and I knew he was telling the truth, he was pale with pain, but there wasn't anything I could do right now.

"Itachi said Tsunade's on her way over, we can ask her then if you can take more, okay?" Gaara said, grabbing Naruto's hand and started gently coaxing him back to the living room where everyone was waiting, and I know all of them were praying Naruto wasn't going to hurt himself again. I know I was.

It took Tsunade a good half hour to get here, and Jiraiya was with her, so I had to suspect that's why it took her so long to get here. But I wasn't thrilled when she banged on the front door as hard as Gaara was earlier. I was getting the sickening feeling that we were going to have to replace the front door tomorrow. It was already bowed in the middle where the two were banging on it.

"Sorry we're late, how are you Naruto?" Tsunade asked as she took the few steps it needed her to use to get over to the blonde and got down on her knees so she could see at his level.

"I'm fine, I took the medicine you gave me five hours ago, can I take some more? My back hurts." Was all Naruto said when he saw her face, and I knew that's all he wanted to talk about the moment she and the white haired man walked through the door. This was going to take forever and Shikamaru wasn't even here yet.

But I was corrected when there was a soft knock on the front door, for a change, and I opened it to see Shikamaru standing there like he knew I was talking about him.

"Come on in, Tsunade and her friend just got here too." I said, letting the brunette walk in with his hands dug deep into his pockets. Itachi had already gotten up and brought chairs in from the kitchen so there'd be enough chairs for everyone and offered to stand behind the couch.

"How many did you take?" Tsunade asked, and it was my turn to step in and answer.

"I gave him two, like the bottle and you said." I answered.

"Good, he can have just one, but we need questions answered before he takes one and passes out." Tsunade said, and she was right, if two pills knocked the blonde out in five minutes, what would one do just five hours later?

"I'm not answering any questions. Tsunade, you can do whatever you want with that bastard, I'm done with him." Naruto said, and everyone stared at him like he was nuts, but I, however, smiled when he finally said something that made sense towards his father.

"So I was right all along?" Shikamaru said, sitting in the chair next to me because I opted to stand while letting Jiraiya and Kankuro take the other two chairs Itachi brought in while Temari took the chair Itachi had.

"Yea, you were, and I don't care anymore." Naruto said, and he meant every word he said.

"What happened to you trying to build a better relationship with your father Naruto?" Tsunade asked. "He was genuine when he said he wanted to get clean and be a better person towards you."

"Was he really checked into the rehab center you called?" Naruto asked.

"He was, and I called them before coming out here, they said he hasn't left ever since he walked in. It's a sixty day program that he's in." Tsunade answered, and that pissed Gaara right off.

"Then who the fuck was that, that we saw walking by the book store?" He asked, well, growled.

"I don't know, but Jiraiya's seen the security footage at the place, Minato hasn't set foot outside the facility." Tsunade said.

"She's right Naruto, and I'm very good at my job." The white haired man said, that's right, he's Jiraiya. I need to remember that name.

"Until I'm convinced that what I heard was me being paranoid, I'm going to believe it, now can I please take that pill? My back seriously hurts right now." Naruto snapped, his voice so fierce that even Gaara flinched at his words.

"Tell us what you heard, please Naruto, it will help us tremendously if we only know what was said." Tsunade said, placing her hands on both of his and gripped them tightly.

"She's right Naru, we can only help if you tell us what was said." Gaara said, and that earned a glare from Naruto before he looked down at his hands that were in Tsunade's and bit his lip.

"I only heard part of the conversation." Naruto started saying after a few long minutes of silence in our living room, and he sighed before he continued. "When I got there, he was talking about asking for more time, but I didn't hear the other part of the conversation, so I'm guessing it was over phone. Then a few moments later, he was talking about how he'd have this person ready, but only if he was getting his money that he was promised. There was silence again until I heard him say loudly, almost as if he wanted to scream, about the person he was referring to as 'he' someone that's sixteen years of age, stubborn, and able to follow direct orders if they were forced upon him."

Everyone in the room knew exactly who fit that description to a goddamned T …

"Are you fucking sure that Minato didn't leave that facility?" Tsunade said through her teeth as she looked over towards Jiraiya, who looked bewildered at what he just heard. Hell, everyone was, save for Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, who heard Naruto sobbing about it in their car on the way here down the street.

"I am absolutely positive, Tsunade, and there's no evidence that the cameras were messed with either. I would have been able to spot that a mile away." Jiraiya said, and he sounded pissed off.

"Naruto, listen to this reason, okay?" Shikamaru suddenly said, I guess during his silence, he was listening carefully to what Naruto was saying, and seems to have put together a rational explanation for what just happened tonight.

"I'll listen, but if it sounds like bullshit, I'm going to bed." Naruto said, pulling his hands out of Tsunade's and crossed his arms as he looked the other way so he couldn't look anyone in the eye.

"From the way Sasuke and Itachi are acting, you must have had an argument before you left the house. I know you've been stressed out these last few days, especially since you can't do anything on your own without someone helping you. And you're still under the side effects of that medicine you're taking, which probably has more side effects than are listed, and you could have thought you heard something. I know your worst fear, besides being rejected by all of us, your friends, that you feel like your father would sell you to someone just to get rid of you." Shikamaru explained. "But, Naruto, if he truly wanted to get rid of you that way, wouldn't he have done it a long time ago? Before you turned ten?"

And Shikamaru had a major point, and that made me glare at Tsunade.

"What are all the side effects other than drowsiness and dizziness?" I hissed as I pulled the bottle out of my pocket and shook it hard. I honestly wanted to throw it at her, but I refrained myself from doing so.

"Those should be the only side effects, I made these pills myself last week." She barked as she got to her feet and stormed over to me, ripping the bottle out of my hands and opened it, pouring its contents into her hands and she stood there with a blank look before she looked utterly, beyond pissed off.

"These aren't the damn pills I made for him!" She yelled so loud that the mirror behind me cracked. Fucking shit this woman has a set of lungs.

"But, Tsunade, that doesn't explain what Gaara, Temari and I saw when we picked Naruto up!" Kankuro yelled as he got to his feet.

"Yaguro must have changed the medicines out! These are anti-seizure medication pills! He could have changed his appearance, knowing that Naruto would freak out if it was him in his own looks and decided to dress up as his father. He knows who his father is since Minato was at the hospital when he was working there." Tsunade explained, and that explained one part, but not how his medicine was changed.

"How could Yaguro get his medicine changed when he's on the wanted list now as a sexual predator?" I asked, and I knew everyone around me was too scared to ask, especially with the words I used.

"He has friends in that hospital, I'm guessing that's who changed the medicine. But even I don't know who those friends are." Jiraiya said. "But either way, they'd have to be new employees, and Kurama is out of the question, since he's undercover right now."

"Jiraiya, get Ibiki and interrogate all the new employees, including Kurama, but make it look like he's being interrogated as not to raise suspicion." Tsunade ordered, and Jiraiya was on his feet faster than anyone else thought possible and was walking out the door by the time I was done registering what Tsunade just said. I must be exhausted for my mind to be this slow.

"Naruto, I would like you to stay at the hospital tonight, just to make sure you don't have any serious problems, and in the morning if nothing happens you can go home. I don't want you at school the rest of the week. I'm signing you up for home schooling online so you won't have to leave the house as much. Sasuke, you can do the same, but I'm leaving that up to you." Tsunade said, and I only nodded before I spoke.

"I'll go to school tomorrow, but I'll think about it over night and tell you in the morning or during lunch." I said and rubbed at my eyes as I pushed my glasses up a bit .

"This won't cost you a single penny Itachi." Tsunade said as she turned to him, who looked like he had fallen asleep standing up.

"Itachi!" Tsunade yelled, and Itachi was brought back to the present with a jerk of his head and his eyes opened.

"What?" He asked. Fuck, I'm too exhausted to explain everything to him tonight.

"Naruto's coming to the hospital since these are anti-seizure medications, it's just to observe his behavior and if anything bad will happen. "Tsunade sighed heavily and rubbed at her temples. "I would like someone to stay with him tonight."

"I will." Gaara said immediately.

"Oh, and Itachi, I'm signing Naruto up for home schooling, starting as early as tomorrow so he won't have to leave here too often. I gave Sasuke the same option, but he's going to think about it and let me know tomorrow at school." She said before she forgot.

"Okay. And I'm so sorry for dozing off like I did. I really need to get rid of one of these jobs." Itachi mumbled, and I could tell he was now beyond exhausted. This might have been his day off, but three jobs was starting to kill him, and slowly.


	21. Chapter 21 Naruto

Author's Note; I was going to update yesterday ... I think. I don't remember. But, I'm here and updating now so it shouldn't matter right? :D R+R+F+F please?

Sasuke; What's got you down in the dumps?

Naruto; Shut up you teme, she's depressed!

Sasuke; Uchiha don't get depressed moron.

Me; ...

Itachi; Sasuke, don't let me remind you of your predicament in book 2 ...

Sasuke; Shut up!

Naruto; You're a prick.

Me; Shut up all of you...

Itachi; Apologize Sasuke.

Sasuke; I don't have to. -glares-

Naruto; -Slaps Sasuke-

Gaara; You are such a self-centered asshole -grumbles-

Me; -sighs- I hope you all enjoy ... -walks away-

Itachi, Gaara and Naruto; -Glaring at Sasuke-

Itachi; You're grounded, no laptop or music for a week.

Sasuke; Fuck you!

_**Chapter 21**_

_**Naruto**_

Sitting here on the couch listening to everyone talk felt like a daze, like nothing was happening and time sat still. Even explaining everything, for the second time, took so long that I thought I was going to lose my mind because it felt like everything around me was on repeat inside my mind.

But I was brought back to reality when I heard Tsunade yelling Itachi's name so loud that my ears were ringing and my head started spinning.

"What?" He asked. Fuck, I'm too exhausted to explain everything to him tonight.

"Naruto's coming to the hospital since these are anti-seizure medications, it's just to observe his behavior and if anything bad will happen. "Tsunade sighed heavily and rubbed at her temples. "I would like someone to stay with him tonight."

Hospital? I don't want to go to the hospital.

"I will." Gaara said immediately.

"Oh, and Itachi, I'm signing Naruto up for home schooling, starting as early as tomorrow so he won't have to leave here too often. I gave Sasuke the same option, but he's going to think about it and let me know tomorrow at school." She said before she forgot.

And fuck home schooling too, I'm done with school.

"Okay. And I'm so sorry for dozing off like I did. I really need to get rid of one of these jobs." Itachi mumbled, I'd say he sounded more exhausted than he ever has since I moved in here, but I'd have to care in order to do that.

"I'm not going to the hospital." I snapped, finally finding my voice as I glared at Tsunade, who looked shocked for some reason. "And fuck home schooling, I'm through with school."

"Naruto, you have to stay at the hospital tonight. I can't guarantee that you're even close to being alright after taking two of these." Tsunade said. "And you have to finish school, that's not something you can chose yourself."

"Does it look like I fucking care anymore?" I hissed, finally standing up from the couch and my whole body felt stiff, but if I remembered correctly, I haven't moved much since everyone got here. "Now leave me the fuck alone." I added before I took off to the guest bedroom and slammed the door behind me.

No one knew what I was going through. I know what I heard and I know I saw my father walking across the parking lot. There was no mistake in that, it was him, it had to be him!

"Hey, Naruto, may I come in?" Gaara's voice asked through the door as I threw myself onto the bed on my stomach. I didn't bother taking my shoes off, mostly because I didn't want to move again.

"Come in." I mumbled, but apparently he heard me because the door opened, letting in some light into the dark room for a few seconds before the door closed again and I felt Gaara sit on the bed next to me.

"You look handsome tonight, Naru?" He said, his hand now rubbing the small of my back near my tail bone, where the brace didn't reach. I couldn't help but relax under his touch. I could tell he was trying to take my mind off what happened in the living room. "We can still go if you want."

"I don't know." I said, and I could feel the tears falling down my cheeks and getting my pillow wet.

"It's all up to you, ya know." Gaara said, scooting closer to me, then I let him roll me onto my back and lift me up as he moved my pillow, sitting down where it used to be and pulled me into his lap and held me there while I cried.

"You want me to go to the hospital, don't you?" I asked after a few moments because I was forcing myself to calm down. I hated crying in front of Gaara.

"That's up to you also, but it would be best. We don't know what else those pills did to you." Gaara said, and I knew he was right.

"Instead of a movie, lets just go to dinner." I sniffed.

"That's alright with me." Gaara whispered, his free hand petting my hair as he kissed my forehead. I couldn't help but smile around him when he made me comfortable. "Where would you like to go?"

"I'll go wherever you go." I said, now looking up at him so I could see him smiling.

"Alright, lets go tell Tsunade-baa-chan where we're going." I nodded and slowly got off his lap, though personally I didn't want to get up.

And when I got up and took a few steps towards the door, Gaara grabbed me from behind and pulled me close to him. I couldn't help but blush when I felt him kiss and nibble on my ear lobe and the nape of my neck, making me shiver in his arms and bite back a small moan.

"You know I get too loud." I whispered with a small giggle, my hands resting on top of his arms. I knew exactly what he was craving for, but we couldn't do it here, not in a million years.

"I know, and that makes me wish we could be alone more, and when your back is healed, I'll make sure we can be alone for a weekend." Gaara promised in my ear before he turned me around and kissed me on the lips, but not without messing my hair up and taking the breath right out of me.

I don't know how long we were standing there, tongues down each others' throat, until there was a knock on the bedroom door and I jumped back so suddenly that I accidentally bit Gaara's tongue, winning a hiss of pain for a few seconds.

"Hey, Tsunade wants to talk to you Naruto." Sasuke's voice came through the door and I growled inwardly for him interrupting our excitement.

"Be there in a moment." I said loudly, turning my head to the door as I answered him, then turned my head back to look at Gaara. "I'm so sorry." I whined quietly.

"It's alright, at least we didn't bite each others' tongues." He said, chuckling in the end before he kissed my lips softly and we left the bedroom together and I inched towards the living room. I honestly didn't want to see her reaction when she'd learn I won't be going straight to the hospital.

"So, what is it going to be Naruto?" She asked, and I realized that Shikamaru was gone, and I frowned.

"Where's Shikamaru?" I asked, straying from her question for a reason.

"He had to go home, but he's with you one hundred percent, and also believes you should go to the hospital also." Sasuke said, and I sighed heavily.

"I'll go, but I want to go to dinner with Gaara … alone." I said, lowering my head as I blushed a shade of tomato again. I could hear Sasuke's chuckle at the look on my face, but I didn't care.

"How long will you two be out?" Tsunade asked, and I was surprised that she wasn't livid.

"I think we were going to be out for an hour or so, we'll bring him to the hospital and straight up to your office." Gaara said, his hand holding mine tightly as he spoke. I've never felt more safe than I did right now.

"You two are a couple, aren't you?" Tsunade asked, I could just hear the smirk in her words.

"If my father finds out, he'll kill me." Gaara said, and I could tell he was begging her to keep quiet.

"Don't worry, it's not my place to tell your parents." Tsunade said, and I knew she would keep her promise, so I smiled.

"Thanks baa-chan." I smiled as I nodded and clung to Gaara's arm that was holding my hand.

"I'll keep you to your word Gaara, call if you're going to be past time." Tsunade said.

"Who is going to be my nurse?" I asked, wanting to know ahead of time so I could prepare myself.

"Kurama and Matatabi. Saiken doesn't work this week." Tsunade answered, though I tensed at the name Kurama. The asshole pisses me off every time I see him.

"Don't worry, he actually words for Jiraiya and he's just there to make sure you're safe and sound, okay?" Tsunade said, she must have realized I tensed, but her words still didn't get me to relax. "And Gaara, I'm going to give you something to sleep tonight. God knows when you slept last."

"I'll be fine." He said, but I glared at him.

"When did you sleep last?"

"Last week." He answered, and he knew I'd get mad.

"Tsunade, give him something strong, not weak." I said, letting go of his arm and crossed mine in front of my chest.

"Fine, Naruto, Tsunade can give me something to sleep. But I don't want it so I can't hear when someone walks into the room." Gaara sighed, his hand now wrapped around my waist, but his hand slid into my back pocket and I couldn't help but blush a little bit.

"Thanks Gaara." I nodded, suddenly feeling a chill on my back and let Gaara pull me closer to him to warm me up. I guess I shivered and I didn't know it.

"We need to get going if we're going to get home in time for our own curfew." I heard Temari say as she stood up by the television, I forgot those two were here.

"You two can go on home, I'll take Naruto and Gaara out." Itachi said a few moments later, though I wished he didn't have to push himself so hard.

"No, you're too tired Itachi." I said, though Sasuke said it with me.

"I have my license, remember?" Sasuke said, and that reminded me that he got it last week. "I'll take these two out and to Tsunade's office, you go to bed and get some sleep."

"Sasuke, I know you just got your license, but you're not driving my car, our only car we have."

"No ifs or buts Itachi, trust your brother a little bit." Tsunade said as she looked cross at him.

"Alright." Itachi sighed. "I need a beer." He added and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'll be back after dropping Naruto and Gaara off at her office, try not to fall asleep on the couch tonight okay?" I heard Sasuke say as Temari and Kankuro said their good byes to the two of us before saying good bye to Tsunade and Sasuke and left. I just hoped that Gaara's dad wasn't getting too suspicious of us because of Gaara staying out and away from home all the time to be with me.

"If I do, I'll know when you get home because you always help me get into bed." Itachi said when he came back from the kitchen, beer bottle in his hand as he looked like he was ready for bed.

"Give me two hours and I'll be home nii-chan." Sasuke sighed and went to the kitchen to grab his keys.

"See you soon baa-chan." I waved to Tsunade as Gaara and I made our way outside and wait by Sasuke's, well, Itachi's, car while Tsunade followed us out. "Bye Itachi, sleep well."

"Bye Naruto, Gaara." We heard Itachi say before Tsunade closed the door quietly behind her.

"Be safe you two." Tsunade said as she waved back and got into her maroon Buick and took off towards the hospital, at least that's where I think she's going.

It wasn't much longer before Sasuke came out of the house and locked the door when he closed it and sauntered off to the car. Boy, was I glad he had his license, I don't think I'd be able to handle Itachi's grinning and smirking all evening. But then again, this was Sasuke we're talking about, he could be worse than his own brother.

"So, where am I taking you two tonight?" Sasuke asked, with that smug grin I honestly wished I hadn't seen. God, are you torturing me?

"I think we're going to this place tonight." Gaara said, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket with his free hand and handed it over to Sasuke, who went wide eyed and stared at him.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked, obviously shocked at what he read.

"Wait, where in the hell are we going Gaara?" I asked, only because I wanted to know where he was planning on taking me.

"You'll find out." He smirked and got into the back seat and I could only climb into the back with him because he dragged me with him by my back pocket his hand was still in.

"I'm going to drop you two off alright?" Sasuke said once he was inside the car and buckled up before turning the car on. I quickly buckled up and so did Gaara, last time we completely forgot to put our seat belts on and almost got Itachi a ticket when Jiraiya pulled us over to see how we were all doing.

That was the last time we would ever forget about our seatbelts.

"Where are you going Sasuke?" I asked, almost hoping he wouldn't leave us so soon, but then again I wouldn't mind some alone time with my boyfriend for once.

"I'm going to go shopping for some stuff." He said, and it still irked me that no one would tell me where we were going. So I shut my mouth and pouted as I leaned against Gaara for his warmth.

I was ready for tonight to be amazing, it was something that I had been waiting for, for two months since our last real date. And I had the feeling Gaara was going to make sure tonight was even more amazing than last time.


	22. Chapter 22 Sasuke

Author's Note; Okay, now that my depression is out of the way from this morning. To be completely honest with all of you, I had yet to go to bed because I couldn't go to sleep for the life of me! Anyway, I'm now going to do triple posts from now on because all of May I'm going to edit the crap out of this and enter it into a contest! :D And no where in the rules does it say it can't have been posted anywhere! Bwahahaha! I had to read the rules thirty times to make sure I read it right. Any who, I'm going to post this chapter and chapter 23 up so there's not going to be an author's note on chapter 23.

Please review for anything you think I might consider changing when I go and edit, that will be loads of help! But either way, that's all up to you :)

Naruto; You're gonna have to bust ass on book 2 if you want to start posting that one soon.

Sasuke; You better not make me a pile of fucking sentimental goo!

Itachi; Hush up otouto, we both know you're that already deep down inside. -Smirks.-

Gaara; At least she isn't making you an insomniac freak! Oh wait, I'm already there ... Never mind. -Shrugs- Just don't make me go to the damned hospital again!

Me; That isn't up to me, ya know. Bakayo. I write what my characters tell me! You should know that by know Gaa-kun.

Gaara; -right eye twitched in annoyance- What ... did you just call me?

Me; Gaa-kun, and get over it, it's cute. At least I don't add -chan like Naru-nii does! -whistles-

Naruto; You promised you wouldn't tell! D:

Me; On with the chapters!

_**Chapter 22**_

_**Sasuke**_

I was glad to get out of the house for a while, especially Naruto, he needed the fresh air and Gaara knew exactly how to give it to him by taking him to the Mongolian Grille at the Konoha Mall and eat outside in the court yard. I would have to think that Gaara would also take Naruto shopping at a few shops after they were done eating, so I had enough time to get some of my stuff done as well, like shop for a couple new books and maybe get into the market for a new laptop.

But also considering the condition Naruto's in, they might just do dinner and shop another day. They promised Tsunade an hour or so, and it'll take just that long to get their dinner and eat.

When I looked into the rear view mirror of the car to check up on Naruto, he looked relaxed, something I haven't seen in a while, and couldn't help but smile. And Gaara knew why I smiled, because he smiled back with a small blush.

"We're almost there Naru." Gaara whispered as I put my eye back on the road as I turned into the Mall's parking lot and drove up to the Mongolian Grille, that looked slightly busy, but there wasn't a line so they were good to go. I'm only guessing there was no line because of the time and the fact that it was a school/work night.

"Where are we?" Naruto groaned, and I'm guessing he tried taking a few minute nap on the way here, but I kind of wished he didn't.

"We're at the mall." Gaara said and pointed to the restaurant I parked in front of.

"There's a couple cars coming." I said, hoping they'd hurry up and get out.

"Come on Naru." Gaara said with a smile and helped Naruto out of the car, who seemed still slightly dazed, but I took off once the door was closed, so I wasn't able to see his reaction when he realized where Gaara took him for dinner.

I could only imagine the look on his face, all because he hated others looking after him and he always hated it when people bought him food during lunch because he couldn't afford to either buy it himself or he couldn't bring anything from home. But he never was able to bring anything from home because his father never could afford to go grocery shopping.

Anyway, I searched the parking lot for a place to park and found one across from the Electronics store and turned the engine off once I had the car in park and turned the head lights off because they were manual, and climbed out while grabbing my wallet and shoved it into my back pocket.

Sighing, I walked up to the store entrance and walked straight through it towards the book store that was on the other side of the mall. I only parked close to the restaurant so we could all climb in and leave. I didn't want to find ways to get back to this side and pick them up. Konoha Mall was huge, big enough for two hospitals and four parking garages plus two outside parking lots. Luckily, I always kept to one side of the mall at all times, and the electronics, books, novelties and movies and music were on this end with the food court, so I didn't have to walk five hundred miles to get to one store I wanted to get to.

"Sasuke!" I heard screaming behind me, making me jump and tense, all because I recognized the voice, and it wasn't Sakura.

"Yes … Ino?" I asked as I turned around and glared at her.

"I'm so glad that I found you, you have to come and see Sakura." She squealed in her annoying voice as she grabbed my arm and dragged me off towards the direction she came from, but I managed to get out of her grasp and regain my balance.

"I can't right now Ino." I said coldly, which was the truth, no matter how much I'd like to see her. I had to be close by in case Gaara called and needed me.

"What's with you lately? All of a sudden, when Naruto and Gaara disappear, you disappear at the same time." Ino asked, stating the obvious, and I wanted to smack her.

"Naruto's been going through a really hard time right now, and I'm trying to support him as much as I possibly can." I explained, and I wasn't lying either, but this was as much as I could tell her. "And I'm waiting for a call I could get any minute."

"What have you been helping Naruto with?" Ino asked, and I should have known that she'd try and pry her nose into his business.

"He's been staying at my place since there's no steps at my house." I said, and I wished I hadn't.

"So you're telling me that blonde idiot has been staying with you all this time?" Ino almost screamed.

"I'd like to tell you everything, but I'm leaving that all up to Naruto." I hissed. "Now I have places I have to stop at before I'm called, leave me alone and if Sakura was really here, she'd be with you and asking me to be over with her, herself." I added and stormed off in the direction I was headed off to from the very beginning.

At the moment, I didn't care if I left her flustered and pissed off with me, but as the words I said to her repeated in my mind like a broken record, I regretted saying anything to her about Naruto at all. I could already see what she'd do to him if she ever saw him again … question his very being as to why he's staying with me and why not at his own place and why he's spending so much time with me than being alone like she thinks he should be. Fucking hell, what in the hell did I just get him into?

Frustrated with myself, I stormed into the book store and went straight to the fiction section and just stared at the books on the shelves. I didn't remember why I came here anymore, Ino helped me forget what I was trying to get all together in the two minutes we were talking. I now felt so horrible that I could throw up where I stood.

But I held my stomach in and grabbed five books from the shelves around me that I personally knew I didn't have and paid for them at the front of the store, along with three journals that I needed and left heading towards the electronics department to see about a new laptop, though I'm not really looking to buy one right now.

As I was about to go back to the car after looking at laptops and wasn't interested in any of them, I heard my phone ringing and pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw that it was Sakura calling.

Holding my breath, I answered it, hoping she wouldn't scream in my ear like Ino did.

"Sasuke Uchiha speaking …"

"Hi Sasuke, where are you so I can stop by and give you a hug?" She asked, and I smiled when she wasn't yelling.

"I'm about to go back to my car, I'm outside the electronics side of the mall." I told her, hoping she'd come alone.

"Great, that's where I parked my car. I'll be there in a few, and Ino went home with Kiba and Hinata five minutes ago. And I have questions for you when I see you, okay?" She said, and I knew she was going to ask why Ino was pissed off to oblivion, but I didn't care.

"Okay, see you in a minute." I said and hung my phone up. Glad that we'd get some alone time before I got my call from Gaara and waited by the doors for her to get here.

And I didn't have to wait long because a moment later, she burst through the doors and ran over to me, slowing down a few feet before reaching me and pulled me into her arms. I wanted to kiss her, but I refrained myself. She said she wanted us to be friends for now, and I was willing to be.

"I missed you Sasuke, you haven't been around much." She said into my ear before we broke our hug and I only nodded sadly.

"Yea, I've been helping Naruto out, he's not doing so well at all, emotionally, mentally and physically." I told her, though I fought to keep the important stuff to myself.

"Yea, how's his back? It has to be close to healing by now." She asked, and she was right, it should have been healed up by now.

"I don't know what's up with that, but the laceration on his back is healed up nicely, but the bones are taking forever to heal up." I said with a heavy sigh. "It still pains him horribly."

"Tsunade will see what's up, she's the best there is." Sakura smiled as she sat down on the ledge of the wall with me. She always knew what to say and when to say it.

"Yea, but lately I think she's over working herself." I admitted.

"I know, I've spoken to her during lunch the other day, trying to talk her into letting someone else become the principal of our school. But she refuses to back down. I personally know she'd never give up her job at the hospital, so I didn't even try there."

"I'll see about talking to her about it, but yea, I think it will be the same with me." I nodded, crossing my arms as I held my bag, but a few seconds later I put it down on the ledge next to me.

"So, where's Naruto right now?" She asked after the two of us were quiet for a few minutes.

"I'm letting him spend some time with a friend he hasn't been able to be alone with for a while." I shrugged.

"So he's with Gaara?" She asked, and I had to stare at her to see if she was smirking, but she wasn't. "Oh, I know that they're a couple, it's obvious at how they act around each other during school. But I'm the only one that's noticed, I've asked Ino and she's completely oblivious to the two she's locked up in her ego so much."

"Good, don't tell anyone, please, Naruto is going to have my hide if anyone else knows, hell, I don't even want to know what Gaara would do." I said, shuddering at the thought of Gaara possibly making me pay by blackmailing me like Itachi did. Fucking shit.

"Don't worry, I know how Gaara's father is like, remember when they moved here and his dad thought Gaara was sleeping around? That was a fucking nightmare!" She said, reminding me of the horrifying moment of Gaara's life where his dad showed up at school and broke into Tsunade's office, using the intercom system and told Gaara everything he suspected for the entire school to hear. We never saw Gaara for three weeks afterwards, but I know for a fact that he ran away until he thought the rumors were gone. He was lucky that Naruto kept everyone's mind away from him or he would have never come back.

"His dad is a jackass." I mumbled.

"Well, he's over protective, that's what I think, just like my parents are." She said with a small shrug. And I know perfectly well what she's talking about.

Then my phone rang and I hissed because I had wished I could spend more time with her.

"It's Gaara, him and Naruto are done with dinner so I gotta go pick them up." I sighed, happy that Gaara had sent a text message instead of called.

"Tell them I said hi okay?" She smiled and hugged me again, I hugged her back tightly before I let her go and watched her go to her car while I went to mine. It was a good fifteen cars away, but I had lost sight of her when she got to her car and drove off.

I sighed as I got in my car and buckled up before going to pick Naruto and Gaara up, putting my bag of items in the passenger seat next to me. Thinking I should call them, I picked my phone back up and dialed Gaara's number.

"Hey, Gaara, where did you guys eat?" I asked, wanting to make sure I drove to the right place.

"We're outside the electronics department. Naruto wanted to walk around and look a bit before we called you." Gaara said and I couldn't have been happier.

"Honk." I said once before blasting my car horn three times when I realized they were walking past the front of my car.

"Sasuke, that was uncalled for." Gaara growled in my ear, but I only shrugged as I hung up and made sure all the doors were unlocked as they walked over and Naruto looked like he had a good time, and blushing like mad.

When they climbed into the car and buckled up, Naruto immediately snuggled into Gaara for warmth and I started the car before we drove off and headed towards the hospital.

"Did you two have fun?" I asked, smirking as I looked back at them in the rear view mirror.

"I loved it, Gaara knows how to over treat someone that doesn't deserve it." Naruto said with a smile, and I only chuckled at his comment.

"You deserved every minute of that." I heard Gaara whisper into Naruto's ear and when I saw Naruto shiver, I turned the heat on in the car. It was getting a little chilly in here, and we didn't need him getting a cold on top of all this either.

"Sakura says hi to you both." I said after a few minutes of driving in silence, listening to the two back there breathe like they were sleeping.

"I saw her while we were eating, but she didn't hear me calling her name. It looked like she had her music on and she was talking to Ino, Kiba and Hinata. You know what, I think Kiba and Hinata got together last month." Naruto said, and smirked.

"Well leave their business alone and let them tell if they are or not." Gaara said as he poked Naruto on the forehead. "Just like we will tell when we are ready."

"Yea Naruto." I agreed, though I had half the heart to tell them that Sakura already knows about them two. I'll wait a few more days or weeks before I tell them I guess.

"Hey, Sasuke, if I go home tomorrow … who's going to stay with me?" Naruto asked when I pulled into the hospital parking lot near Tsunade's office. That's right, I didn't think about who would stay with him tomorrow.

"I don't know, I'm going to talk to Itachi in the morning before he comes and picks you up. Tsunade is expecting me to go to school so I have no choice but to go." I answered, parking the car in front of the sliding doors that led up to her office and turned the engine off. I was only going to do a drop off, leaving after I helped Gaara take Naruto up to her office, and go home.

"Okay." Naruto nodded, and he looked ready to go to bed already when he and Gaara climbed out of the car before I did.

"Go on home Sasuke, I can get Naruto up to her office." Gaara said, a hand around Naruto's waist and one of Naruto's arms draped over his shoulders. Yea, he looked like he could take him up himself, but I wasn't going to take that chance of Naruto falling asleep and suddenly falling to the floor while dragging Gaara with him.

No, I didn't underestimate Gaara's strength at all, he's someone I wouldn't want to mess around with even when he is calm, it's just that Naruto's unconscious body weight more than it looked.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yea, we'll be fine." Gaara smiled and headed off inside, though I smirked when Naruto shot himself up right. I could only imagine that Gaara pinched him awake.

Sighing, I climbed into the car and drove home. I was physically and mentally prepared to drag Itachi to his room when I got home and I still had to get some writing on my novel done before I dragged myself to bed.

But tonight I think I'm going to skip writing, it's already going on ten thirty, an hour and a half past my usual bed time and actually get some peace and quiet tonight.


	23. Chapter 23 Naruto

_**Chapter 23**_

_**Naruto**_

I don't remember going to the hospital after falling asleep in the car after dinner at the Mongolian Grille. I especially found it odd when Itachi came alone to pick me up. I wasn't only sad, but frustrated for some reason.

"Where's Sasuke-teme?" I asked when Gaara and Itachi were done talking to Kurama. I still had yet to get dressed to go home because I was in hospital garb.

"I dropped him off at school already. The two of us talked this morning and he's going to go to school and I'll be staying home to watch over you … and Gaara, your father called and he wants you to go to school as well." Itachi explained, and I felt my face get hot with even more frustration.

"You can't make him go to school." I snapped.

"Naruto." Gaara said quickly to shut me up before saying anymore, and I knew then that he was serious. "I'm going to go to school, but I'll be by afterwards, okay?"

"Then I'm going to school." I sniffed.

"You know why that's not going to happen." Gaara yelled. To be honest, this was our first argument we ever had since we started going out. And it was starting to scare me.

"You don't get it. I'm already failing because I've missed, what, almost a whole month of school at once?" I said, and I could feel the tears forming in the corners of my eyes as I looked down at my lap. "I can't go to college and follow my Mom's dream if I don't go to school."

"Naruto, Tsunade already said you're starting online schooling from our house." Itachi said, now taking a step forward because I think he could sense the 'blood bath' that might happen if Gaara and I argue any further.

"It's not the same. I have to be there to learn and remember anything." I said. "I've tried learning stuff on my own before and it just doesn't work."

"Well, gaki, I guess you can go to school this morning. But I'm keeping the rule of no carrying anything a little bit longer. I had them take an x-ray of your back last night after you passed out complaining of it hurting and it looks like there has to be back surgery after all." Tsunade said, and I had no clue she even came into the room. But what she said made me lose it.

"What the fuck do you mean by that?" I yelled.

"What I mean by that, gakI, is that the way your break healed, one of the fragments moved and healed itself in place, pinching your spinal cord." She yelled back, but she regained composure after a few seconds with a heavy sigh. "That's why your back is still hurting."

"Just fucking great." I hissed and pulled at my hair. "I can't afford back surgery! And this was NOT something I wanted to wake up to!"

"Listen, Naruto, I'm as frustrated as you are." Tsunade said as she sat on the side of my bed and placed a soft hand on my shoulder. "I'm scheduling the surgery for Saturday. It's Wednesday right now so that'll give you a few days to catch up on school and get all your homework for two weeks because that's how long you're going to be bed ridden."

"Don't schedule anything until I can pay for it." I hissed. "And no one is going to pay for it except me."

"Now that's just being rude and that's uncalled for Naruto." Itachi said, and he sounded pissed.

"I'm already living under your roof, eating your food and using up your space for free, I already know you paid for my last hospital stay and my initial hospital stay when this all started. I know for a fact that you're paying for this one as well and that all adds up to what? Possibly half a million dollars? Yes, I might be over exaggerating, but there's no way in hell that I'll dry up you and your brothers' money for my sake. You two have done enough already." I said, crying by the time I was done complaining. "And none of this would be happening right now if I didn't talk to Tsunade about getting help for my father. I should have just kept my mouth shut and never said anything."

"Stop that Naruto, and I already consider you a brother, so I'm alright in paying for your bills." Itachi said, but I only got more upset.

"And gaki, you did what was right and came to me for help. Hell, if you hadn't your father would probably have died of alcohol poisoning. Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't already." Tsunade said as she let go of my shoulder and crossed her arms.

"And Naruto, you've helped everyone else out and completely ignored your own needs. You need to let others' help you and you know I'm willing to put my own life aside and help you out as much as I physically can." Gaara added to the mix, and I couldn't keep the tears from falling anymore.

"I'm selfish, that's what I am." I cried as I put my face in my hands.

"You are anything but selfish." Itachi scoffed.

"Fine, then I care too much about others!" I yelled.

"And that's what I love about you, Naruto." I heard Gaara say before I felt him wrap his arms around me and held me tight, letting me cry into his chest and letting out all my pent up frustrations that had built up over the last month that I didn't know was there.

"Naruto, stay home today and go to school tomorrow." Gaara said after a few minutes of me crying into him as he petted my hair, knowing it helped me calm down also.

"Alright." I nodded, finally letting him take care of me like he wanted, I was now exhausted mentally and my emotions were shot for once.

"And have the surgery Saturday. You'll feel better once it's done and you're healed up again." He added like I knew he would, and I only nodded, afraid I'd say something completely opposite of what I wanted to say and sniffed when he kissed my forehead and let me go, though he grabbed my hand and refused to let it go.

"I'll give Itachi the information regarding your surgery, okay Naruto?" Tsunade said after a few moments and I nodded. "Gaara, you don't have to wear your uniform to school, here's a note in case any of the teachers ask alright?"

"Thanks Tsunade-sama." Gaara nodded and took the note with his free hand.

"And tell Sasuke what's going to be happening, if you want, if not, tell him I need to talk to him the moment he comes home. I'm going to need your sister to give him a ride so I won't leave Naruto alone for too long." Itachi said.

"Right, and we'll be happy to give him a ride home." Gaara nodded and stood up as he kissed my forehead again. "I got a call from Temari about two minutes before Naruto woke up saying they're going to pick me up and text me when they got here, and I just got their text." He added, I could hear his phone vibrate in his pocket so I knew he was telling the truth.

"Have fun today Gaara." I said with a small smile. "And don't piss off Ibiki again."

"It's fun messing with him. He's too serious." Gaara chuckled, but he was smirking at the last bit, and he was right, Ibiki was too serious for a teaching job, but he was amazing at it.

"I'm going to get out of here too and get to school. I'm already late and Shizune might ring me a new one when I walk in." Tsunade said as she stood up, laughing in the end as she waved her good bye and left my room without another word.

"Ready to change so we can leave?" Itachi asked when Tsunade left, Gaara probably wanted to walk out with me, which was the only reason why he hasn't left yet.

"No, I'm keeping these hospital garbs, they're better than what I wore last time." I said, crossing my arms with a smirk as I threw my feet over the edge of the bed and slid off. I had woken up with my arms IV less and bandaged up. I must also already be discharged because Tsunade would have said other wise.

"That's fine with me." Itachi shrugged and the three of us left once I got my shoes on.

Once we were outside, I shivered at how cold it was outside. It might already be near the end of September, but I always hated the cold, and I wasn't expecting someone to throw an over sized hoodie over my shoulders until I looked up at Itachi and saw he wasn't wearing his jacket anymore.

"You need this more than I do." I sniffed, my nose already running.

"I'm used to the cold already." He said. "I'm going to go get the car, I'll be right back." And he left me standing here with Gaara, and I put the jacket on correctly and zipped it up.

Fucking hell, the jacket might be warm from Itachi wearing it, but I was still cold, and I felt more heat once Gaara pulled me into his arms and gave me a tight squeeze.

"I'll wait for Itachi to get back." He said, and that's when I realized Temari's car wasn't near by.

"I thought you said she was here." I said.

"She is, they had to drive around because there were cars behind her so they had to move." He explained, and I nodded once I saw Temari's car drive up with Itachi right behind her.

"You're late to school because of me." I pouted.

"It isn't your fault." Gaara whispered in my ear before he nibbled on it and planted a kiss on my temple before squeezing me once more and let me go. "See you after school Naruto."

"By Gaara, Temari, Kankuro." I said, waving as I walked over to Itachi's car and climbed into it.

This was going to be a long day, I could feel it in my bones.

"I'm going to be working from the office at home, Naruto, so you can do whatever you want as long as it isn't going to hurt your back anymore than it is." Itachi said, and I was dreading his words.

"What are you doing from home that's work?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I am the CEO of the Uchiha - Hyuuga Vision/Dental Insurance for the Uchiha family. I only work two other jobs because I needed stuff to get my mind off family for a little while. I'm quitting them today anyway because my body won't let me work those insane hours anymore." Itachi explained, and I paled.

"I'm sorry." I said, looking down at my lap as I leaned against the door of the car and pressed my face against the cool window.

"It's not your fault Naruto, I've been wanting to quit those other jobs for months." Itachi scoffed, but it still didn't lift the guilty feeling that I had.

"But I am going to suggest something, okay Naruto?" Itachi said after the long silence the rest of the way home as we pulled into the drive way.

"Yes?"

"Don't leave the house alone, okay?" Itachi asked, and he looked serious as I looked at him when he turned his head to tell me.

"I promise." I nodded, and I was going to make sure I kept my promise.


	24. Chapter 24 Sasuke

Author's note; I'm letting you all know now, I have no clue what the hell Gaara's fathers' name is, so for this fan fiction, it's Raidon! I'll fix it later if anyone wants me to correct it with the real name if they know it. I've looked everywhere and I can't find it at all :(

And so, here's the second triple update :) Enjoy!

_**Chapter 24**_

_**Sasuke**_

I was happy to see Gaara at school today so he could fill me in on Naruto's condition, but he was serious when he said he'd tell me and his siblings what went on in his room before he left during lunch so he wouldn't have to keep repeating himself all day.

All I could think about when he said that, was that he was as serious as a heart attack and it kept him in a bad mood all day. I always found it normal to sit next to him in class when we had class together, but today, you could just suffocate on the dark vibes that was coming from the red head all through until lunch rolled around. But those vibes only got worse when he skipped the through lunch line all together and sat at our usual table.

"I'm going to skip lunch too." I told Temari and Kankuro, who was standing in line with me and they nodded as I walked out of line and sat with Gaara. I was hoping we'd be able to calm him down by the end of lunch period. But knowing him it would be nearly impossible.

"Hey, Gaara, is everything okay?" I asked, taking the chair next to him as I tried to get something from him before he exploded emotionally.

"I just want to kill Naruto's father right now." He growled, his voice low so no one would be able to hear him besides me.

"You're not the only one, and you know that I know that's not all that's bothering you today." I sighed softly, keeping my own voice down.

"Kankuro and Temari are almost done, I'll wait until they get here. They're just as worried as you are, but Shikamaru should be here too." Gaara said, and that's when I remembered that Shikamaru was brought into the loop of Naruto problems and I sat up, looking around for the brunette and found him sitting with Ino, Kiba, Hinata and Shino and Sakura. Fucking great.

"I'll go get him, be right back." I sighed and got up, sauntering over to their table and coughed to clear my throat when I got there.

"Shikamaru, can you come over to our table for a few moments?" I asked when I got his attention. And the expression on his face changed from bored to serious in a heart beat as he stood up without a word and walked over to our table with me after telling the others that he'd be right back.

But as I turned, I was stopped by Sakura's hand and I had to turn to face her and that worried look on her face.

"I'll talk to you later, Sakura." I said, and left before she could get another word in.

She might be the girl that I love, but I'm not stomping on mine and Naruto's friendship over anyone. I'm going to let him tell everyone in his own time. Right now, it was the worst time possible.

"Okay, now that we're all here, I'll get started." Gaara sighed when I finally sat down in my chair and crossed my arms, mentally trying to prepare myself for the worst. But what he said next, I was never prepared for. "Naruto's having back surgery Saturday."

"Why?" Shikamaru asked, and his voice was a little loud, but wasn't loud enough to draw attention. Kankuro and Temari just stared, I was ready to rip his dad a new one.

"Tsunade had an x-ray performed while Naruto was sleeping and found that while he was recovering from that web break in one of his vertebrae, one of the shards shifted and healed where it stopped and it's pinching his spinal cord." Gaara explained. "That's why his back is still hurting."

"I should have known." I hissed and kicked the leg of the table before I sank in my chair and crossed my arms in frustration. "It had to have happened when he snuck off to work and blacked out when he had his brace off."

"Tsunade was thinking so too, but she never told Naruto her suspicions. She knows that would make him more depressed if she did." Gaara said.

"So, what you're saying, is that now Naruto's back injury got as bad as Tsunade predicted … all because of his father?" Shikamaru asked. I knew he wanted to voice his opinions and make sure he had the pieces of his own puzzle put together right, and hissed when Gaara and I nodded.

"And to make matters worse, Dad is refusing to let me go see him after school." Gaara growled. "As a matter of fact, I'm not allowed to see him anymore, period."

"What the fuck is he thinking?" I asked.

"That's what the two of us thought when Dad told us this, this morning when we left to pick him up." Temari said. "But, we're thinking it's because Gaara's grades went down this past quarter, all because he's been missing school and hasn't turned in the assignments."

"I turned those assignments in!" Gaara snapped. "They only gave me half credit, fucking cunts."

Now it was everyone's turn to stare at Gaara, all of us bewildered at the language that just slipped from his mouth about his own teachers. But I think the most surprised ones of the four of us, was his own siblings.

"Oh no." Temari muttered as I watched her physically pale and scoot away from her brother a little bit, Kankuro didn't say anything, but followed suit.

"I have questions for you two later, but Gaara, he has no right to take you away from Naruto, even if he doesn't know about you two." I said, pointing to Temari and Kankuro first before turning and speaking to Gaara, and he knew I was right.

"He strictly said that if I don't come home right after school I'm grounded from everything. That includes spending time with him after my homework is done, doing things with my own siblings and staying after school for tutoring, sports and clubs. I won't even be allowed to have my phone to get updates on how Naruto's doing." Gaara said, and my blood boiled past a new point that I didn't think was possible.

"I'm talking to your father, Gaara." I hissed.

"Well, Gaara, knowing Sasuke, he'll make your old man change his mind." Shikamaru shrugged. "I, on the other hand, can't spend much time away from home since my mother is sick again."

"Take care of your mom, okay Shikamaru? Naruto understands, you know that." I said and placed a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, reassuring him that we're here for him also.

"Thanks, Sasuke, and tell Naruto we Nara's say hello." Shikamaru said as he patted my hand a bit before standing up and walked off back towards the table he was sitting at before.

"I hope his mom gets better." Temari said, and she sounded depressed.

"Does my sister love the Konoha's finest?" Gaara asked as he raised a brow, though I'd have to call it that, he doesn't have any eyebrows.

I couldn't help but smirk when Temari blushed bright red like when Naruto and Gaara do when they're together. Honestly, I think they'd make a pretty good couple. They're both smart as hell, and everyone already thinks they're together somewhat. But that's only because Shikamaru isn't the type to comment on other people, and he comments on her a lot.

"I'm going to go get something to drink." Gaara said after a few minutes of quiet at our end of the table and he got up and went into the cafeteria.

Now was my chance to ask Kankuro and Temari why they backed away from their brother a few moments ago.

"Are you two scared of your brother or something?" I asked.

"Sasuke … what we're about to tell you, you can't repeat to anyone! Understand?" Temari hissed at me, shocked by her reaction, I nodded and the three of us leaned closer to talk.

"Gaara's actually killed someone in his rampages, but he was let off easily because no one knew until he was evaluated in the hospital in our home town that he has major bi-polar type two added with the insomnia and he's a fucking weapon." Kankuro explained, and I think I paled a couple shades.

"He was seven when this happened, and apparently the one he killed was someone that had attacked him when he was five when the insomnia problems started." Temari added.

"Hey, Sasuke, I almost forgot." Gaara's voice said as he neared the table and the three of us broke apart, but the awkward feeling around the table never left when he sat down. "Itachi wants to talk to you when you get home. I don't know what for, but I'm thinking it's about Naruto."

"Alright, and thanks." I nodded. "And better yet, I think I'll have Itachi talk to your father, he's better at persuasion than I am."

"Either way works for me as long as it works." Gaara shrugged and chugged at his drink that I realized was a can of Starbucks iced coffee.

"You know you're not allowed caffeine!" Temari shrieked.

"Does it look like I care? If I don't drink this I'll fall asleep in the next half hour and won't wake up until Friday!" Gaara yelled, the surrounding tables becoming silent as their occupiers turned to look at us for a brief moment before going back to their own conversations.

"Then you should have gone home today Gaara." Temari whined.

"Like hell I would go home and try to sleep with that fucking bastard home." Gaara hissed, his glare hardened to the point that you felt like you were being choked to death and he crushed the can in his hand that was probably half way empty of coffee, I could only guess by how much of the coffee that got everywhere on the table and started dripping onto the floor between him and myself. I was really starting to feel sorry for him.

I was furious when I didn't see Itachi's car sitting out front waiting for me when school let out. And I had been waiting fifteen minutes and the buses were already starting to leave when Temari's car drove up and stopped in front of me.

"Gaara forgot to tell you that you're getting a ride home from us today since Itachi doesn't want to leave Naruto alone." Kankuro said when he rolled his window down.

I shrugged, all my anger forgotten about and climbed into the back seat behind Kankuro and when I buckled up, I realized that Gaara was asleep in the seat next to me.

"He fell asleep a few minutes ago." Temari said as she looked at me through her rear view mirror.

"Oh, okay." I shrugged, but was startled when Gaara suddenly stirred and sat up correctly in his seat rubbing at his eyes.

"I'm awake." He said groggily when Temari started driving off, slowly because of the buses and I could hear the sigh echo in the car. We were all hoping Gaara would stay asleep for once.

It was silent all the way to my house, and when the car was parked to let me out, Gaara was the first one out before I even had my seat belt off and was knocking on the door by the time I was outside closing the car door. I didn't blame him for being quick in seeing Naruto.

"We'll wait for him." Kankuro said when I walked by his window, and nodded before I walked up to the house and opened the door for Gaara. I found it strange, because Itachi usually answers the door, and the car was still here. Just the thought of something happened while we were at school was starting to make my chest hurt as a panic attack was starting to come on.

But when the door opened, Naruto was fast asleep on the couch, curled up with a blanket wrapped around him and Itachi was finally rushing out from the hallway, I'm guessing he had his office door closed, no wonder he didn't hear us right away.

"You two nearly gave me a heart attack." I whispered when Gaara walked in and took his shoes off before I did the same and closed the door behind me.

"I lost track of time while I was working." Itachi apologized.

"It's alright." I shrugged, "and Naruto's asleep." I added while putting a finger to my lips to keep my brother quiet.

"I just stopped in to see how he was doing, and he looks too comfortable so I won't move or bother him. Keep him safe for me Itachi, Sasuke." Gaara whispered before sliding his shoes back on with a small bow and left. I was left with a confused Itachi that I now had to explain a couple things to him.

"His dad doesn't want him seeing Naruto anymore, but it doesn't look like he knows they're a couple." I explained. "I think it's because Gaara's missed more than his usual days of school and his grades are dropping like a rock."

"I'll talk to his dad and see if Gaara can't be with Naruto these next few weeks because of his surgery." Itachi said, like he knew what I was going to ask, and I was glad I didn't have to ask him. To me, it made me sound like I was begging him.

"Thanks, and Gaara said you wanted to talk to me when I got home?" I asked as the two of us made our way to the kitchen, I went into the refrigerator and grabbed a Sprite before sitting down at the table. Itachi sat down across from me and he crossed his arms, great, I hope it wasn't something too serious.

"You already know about Naruto's surgery that's happening on Saturday, since I suspect Gaara told you." Itachi said, though I clearly knew he was thinking out loud, so I nodded. "I quit my two spare jobs today and I'm going to be working from home from now on and I think Tsunade is going to keep Naruto at the hospital all weekend and send him home on Monday when he'll officially start his online schooling."

"Okay, and do you need me here to help you out on Monday?" I asked.

"I think that might be wise, but Tsunade is letting him go to school tomorrow." He nodded, but the end is what pissed me off. "Oh, and Tsunade called me a little while ago saying that she wants Naruto in the hospital around nine in the morning to get him ready for his surgery at noon. He's also not allowed to drink or eat anything after noon on Friday. She wants him to fast for twenty four hours before his surgery."

"So, there's going to be a trick into telling him he can't eat or drink until after his surgery … that's harder than it sounds." I said, my chin now resting in my right hand as I thought of a good way to tell Naruto that he can't eat or drink, since the guy is like a bottomless pit and will eat all day if you let him.

"Yea, there is going to be a trick to get me not to eat for twenty four hours." Naruto's voice chuckled behind me, making me jump because I wasn't expecting him to be up at all.

"Goddamn it Naruto, don't scare me like that!" I hissed as I turned to look at him, Itachi, on the other hand, was laughing. "And what's so fucking funny?"

"He scared you." Itachi said, now trying to contain his laughter.

"You're a fucking jerk." I hissed, now standing up and storming past Naruto and I locked myself in my room, not without slamming my door closed.

Those two can be impossible alone, but together, it's like they go out of their way to be even more impossible. It's damn irritating.


	25. Chapter 25 Naruto

_**Chapter 25**_

_**Naruto**_

I slowly stretched on the couch so I wouldn't hurt my back again even though I was wearing my back brace and slowly sat up. I had no idea what time it was, and to me, it felt like it was dinner time, only because my stomach growled at me for food.

Sighing, I slowly stood up and made my way into the kitchen, and stopped a few feet shy of the door way because I heard talking inside the kitchen.

Sasuke must be home. And I had the perfect idea of sneaking up on the bastard.

"I think that might be wise, but Tsunade is letting him go to school tomorrow." I heard Itachi say. He must be talking about Saturday. "Oh, and Tsunade called me a little while ago saying that she wants Naruto in the hospital around nine in the morning to get him ready for his surgery at noon. He's also not allowed to drink or eat anything after noon on Friday. She wants him to fast for twenty four hours before his surgery."

"So, there's going to be a trick into telling him he can't eat or drink until after his surgery … that's harder than it sounds." I heard Sasuke say, and I couldn't help but silently scowl as I now found the perfect way to scare him and tiptoed into the kitchen behind him before speaking with a grin on my face.

"Yea, there is going to be a trick to get me not to eat for twenty four hours." I said, and the moment I did, Sasuke bounced in his chair about a few inches and turned to see me standing there, a horrifying scowl on his face but I still couldn't help but smirk even though I was trying so hard to keep a straight face.

"Goddamn it Naruto, don't scare me like that!" He hissed. "And what's so fucking funny?"

"He scared you." Itachi said, now trying to contain his laughter.

"You're a fucking jerk." Sasuke hissed again, now standing up and storming past me and locked himself in his room, not without slamming his door closed.

"So why is it I can't eat for twenty four hours? And make it good Itachi." I said, now taking Sasuke's seat with my arms crossed.

"It's so you don't get sick when you have your surgery." Itachi said.

"Okay." I nodded after a bit of silence. "But you are going to have to remind me every time I go to get a drink and to get something to eat."

"That won't be a problem. I'm locking everything up once the clock strikes noon." Itachi smirked.

"You're so fucking evil!" I laughed. "But that won't keep me from getting a glass of water."

"I'll be working in here so I'll be reminding you about that every time you come in here."

"Am I allowed to rehydrate my dry mouth?"

"I'll get back to you on that one." Itachi smiled as he stood up. " Now, I'm going to go back to work in my office for another hour or so. Now that Sasuke's here, why not ask him if he can walk with you to your house to get some of your stuff you might want to get before Saturday."

"Good idea." I smiled with a nod as I got up and walked to Sasuke's room and knocked on it harder than I wanted to.

"What do you want usuratonkachi?" Sasuke snapped and I flinched away a little bit.

"Can … can you walk with me across the street so I can get some stuff from home, Sasuke?" I asked, nervously because I didn't think he'd want to go now that I pissed him off. But I was surprised when I saw his door open and there be a small smile on his face.

"Sure." He said, and it was starting to creep me out because the smile turned into a smirk.

"What the fuck is on your mind right now teme?" I asked with a firm voice. Though I sounded like I was pissed off.

"Because I know it freaks you out when I'm smiling or smirking for no reason." He said and ruffled my hair before he walked past me and to the living room.

"And you know I hate it when you mess up my hair teme!" I yelled as I followed him, watching him put his shoes on and I just slipped into my sandals. I didn't care if I was wearing socks, we were only going across the street, and I made sure my house key was in my hand before we went outside and I closed the door behind me.

It felt weird to be back inside my house after not being here in just over a month, and the place looked exactly how it was when I left it.

"What is it you were wanting to get Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he walked in behind me and closed the front door behind himself.

"I wanted to get my laptop and a couple books to sink into so I won't sleep all day Friday and fuck over my sleeping schedule anymore than it already is." I shrugged and waltzed down the hall into my room. I didn't care if I still wore my shoes, no one was going to be here anyway.

And when I got to my room, I froze. My bedroom was anything but how I left it when I went to the hospital if I remember correctly.

"Is everything okay Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he walked down the hall and stood beside me, and I only got more pissed off.

"My room is fucking destroyed!" I yelled, reaching up to my head with both hands and I pulled at my hair so hard that I felt some of my hair get ripped from my scalp. But I was too pissed off to care at the moment about pain.

I took a few steps into my room and Sasuke followed and I could have sworn his jaw dropped. My bed was flipped over on its side, my dresser was torn apart and clothes were all over the place, well, what clothes I had left, and my computer desk was taking apart also. I ran over to my closet where I kept my laptop and other expensive things I bought with my hard earned money and found that they were gone as well. The books were still here, but my laptop and some spare money I had saved up was gone.

"Hey, Naruto, your Dad's room and the office is also torn apart. I looked at the back door and it has signs of a crow bar being used to open it from the outside." I heard Sasuke said, I didn't even realize he had left the room. I guess I was so frustrated that I couldn't pay attention to him.

Then the thought of the necklace that Gaara gave me being gone sent me on a wild hunt for it, making me tear the bottom of the closet apart and rip up the flooring that was there and pulled up the floor board. It was a secret compartment I made when I was six that held the things most precious to me; that included my first birthday present from my grandparents on my mothers' side of the family that consisted of a family portrait before I was born, the only thing I got from them and just thinking about it made me realize I haven't heard from them in years. The only thing that connected me to my mother. My second birthday present, from Tsunade, when I first got into high school and it was my most favorite book I own called Hamlet by William Shakespeare, it was a classic, but I loved it none the less. And Gaara's necklace that he gave me on our first month anniversary. I would have mentally lost it if it any of these things were taken from me.

When I finally got to see the inside of my hiding spot, I could feel the tears falling down my face I was filled with so much joy that no one found it and picked up the items from inside the floor and held them close to my chest. I couldn't help but cry more after I put the necklace on, deciding that I'd never take it off ever again, I slowly got up on my feet and used the wall next to my closet for support so I could stand steadily.

"They didn't find them." I said out loud to make my mind comprehend the fact that I was happy and should stop crying, but I couldn't, not even when Sasuke put a hand on my shoulder and helped me out of the house and back over to theirs.

I felt pathetic, and once we were inside the house, he helped me take my sandals off and sit on the couch before I handed him the house key to go back and get any arm full of books he could get and lock the house up. I laid down after a few moments because I had started feeling sick to my stomach and my sobs, for the love of God, had quieted down to a silent cry.

When Sasuke came back with the books, he took his shoes off and brought the books to the bedroom I was staying in and I had hoped he put the key by the books. I didn't want the key right now, nor did I want to be bothered.

And when I heard Sasuke close the bedroom door, I got up and went into the room and locked the door behind me. I turned the light on and sat on the side of the bed, putting the picture up so I could have it facing me while I lay down and put the book behind it on the stack of books so I didn't have to hold it anymore and I laid down. Being left alone was the only thing I wanted, and I hoped Sasuke and Itachi understood that.


	26. Chapter 26 Sasuke

_**Chapter 26**_

_**Sasuke**_

I couldn't believe how out of it Naruto was when he saw the devastation of his room, and when I left to check the other few bedrooms, they were just as torn up as his was and when I ran to the back door and saw that it was pried open, I knew that it was a break in. When it could have happened, I don't know. But it had to be within the last week or so.

And when I went back to Naruto's bedroom, he was on the floor in front of his closet, on his knees holding something to his chest and crying so much I thought he might have hurt something on top of his on growing anxiety and panic from his surroundings. I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder once he was up on his feet using the wall for support, I felt even more sorry for him than I ever did.

"Hey, Naruto, lets go back to my house, okay? I'll come back and get some books you might wanna read and lock up okay?" I suggested quietly, but I don't think he could have heard me.

Sighing, I led him out of the room and out of the house before going back over to mine and opened the door for him and led him inside. By now, his crying had become quieter and he was hiccupping, but I didn't mind as I helped him kick off his sandals and onto the couch where I got his key from him and went back over to the house.

I was going to have a long ass talk with Itachi when I got back, there was no doubt about that. And for books that Naruto might want to read, I have no clue, so when I went back to his room, I grabbed whatever title I saw, and made sure I had roughly ten books before I left and locked the house up.

I know, personally, that taking things from the room without having the police go over it was going to cause confusion, but Naruto seemed to know what was taken from his room, so I was going to leave it to him to tell the police what possessions were his that were taken, his dad would have to add to the list of his own possessions, but I didn't care about his.

When I got back to my house and closed the door behind me, Naruto hadn't moved far and was now laying down on the couch. His eyes barely open and he looked spaced out, so I knew bothering him now would send him back into a crying fit so I took the books to his bedroom and put them on the night stand with his house key and closed the door behind me when I left it.

"Hey, Itachi … we have a problem." I said when I opened Itachi's office door and closed it behind me without knocking. He looked pissed that I didn't knock, but when he heard what I said, he softened and now looked worried.

"Is Naruto okay?"

"He's fine physically, but emotionally I think he feels like his heart was ripped from his chest." I explained, and that was exactly how Naruto's looked in the last five minutes. "His house was broken into while he and his dad were gone."

"Was anything taken?"

"Naruto says his laptop was taken, but I don't know if anything else was. The back door has evidence of a break in, it's pretty damaged around the handle and locks. And the strange thing was, was that only his room, his dads room and his dads office was torn apart, the rest of the house looked like nothing had been touched." I explained while bringing my left hand up and scratched the back of my neck.

"Where's Naruto?"

"He was out in the living room when I came back just before walking in here, but I think he went to his bedroom and locked the door. He really doesn't want to be bothered right now." I said, gulping hard because I don't know what Itachi wants to do about the situation.

"We'll let Naruto decide if he wants to call the police, it is his and his fathers' house." Itachi said after a moment of thought, and I sighed heavily. I was glad, but also pissed off at the same time.

"I know, but I still feel like we should call." I huffed, crossing my arms as I sank into the chair next to his desk that was a spare chair for the room. "And how long should I wait before going to see if he's alright?"

"Give him an hour or two, let him calm himself down, that's best." Itachi suggested and I nodded. He was right, letting Naruto calm down before asking him anything about the house was the best idea I heard in a while from Itachi.

"Alright … I'm going to go for a drive, okay? I'm thinking about stopping at Gaara's for a little bit." I said as I got up and stretched.

"Don't be gone too long." Itachi suggested as he got back to work, but I knew he was keeping an ear out for Naruto and I left his office door open as I walked out with my hands in my pockets and went to get the car keys out of the kitchen before going back to the front door and slid my shoes back on. Today was already a long day at school, and with this happening, it was just making it feel longer than it already was.

"Hey, Sasuke, well this is a surprise." Temari smiled as she opened the door to their house and let me inside. I nodded as I stepped in and took my shoes off.

"Yea, I was wanting some time away from the house and I figured I could help Gaara with his homework if he needed." I said, though I know full well I'm going to be talking to him about Naruto, completely disregarding anything that happened in his house. I don't want to know what Naruto would do if I told Gaara instead of him … just thinking about it is making my head hurt.

"Well, Gaara's in his room right now, so you can go on up and knock on his door. Though I'm sure he's sleeping. But if he isn't, you can stay." Temari said as she started walking into the kitchen area. I guess she was either getting dinner started or was working on her homework with Kankuro. "You know how he was on the way home …"

"Yea, now that you mention it …" I had completely forgotten that he was nearly asleep all the way home today from school.

And without another word, Temari went into the kitchen and I went down the hall where Gaara's room was and softly knocked on his bedroom door, though I made sure it was loud enough for him to hear it. And the door was opened quicker than I could think possible and I was dragged into the room with the door slammed behind me. I was _not_ prepared to see Gaara glaring daggers at me with such intensity that I thought he was ready to kill me.

"I just got a call from Naruto, and he's crying, what the hell happened because he wouldn't tell me." Gaara hissed, and I stared. I had no clue that Naruto called him.

"I had no clue he called you …" I told him. "But since you're asking, Naruto and I went to his house to get some stuff and his home had been broken into. We don't know when, but they only raided his room, his dads room and the office area."

"What was taken?"

"As far as I know, his laptop." I answered, and Gaara's glare softened and he physically relaxed before sitting himself in his computer chair where his homework was sitting, sprawled all over the desks surface, and he looked like he was getting frustrated with his work. But I know he's getting frustrated with it because his mind can't leave Naruto.

"I came over to visit, and to help you with your homework if you needed some." I offered, and I hoped he would let me stay, if he didn't, I'd go home or on a long drive.

"I'm glad you came over, actually, I really need help in English." He sighed and rested his elbows on the surface of his desk and buried his face in his hands. He honestly, truly, looked confused, frustrated and pissed off at it.

"Sure, what do you need help in?" I asked as I pulled up a chair and sat next to him.

"I don't get what Iruka-sensei wants us to do for the book report." Gaara said. Well, English class wasn't his best subject, though he was able to take the advanced classes for it. I guess this was his weak point.

"Well, what Iruka-sensei is wanting, is a book report of the whole book we read, and I just went through the summaries I wrote for mine and did my book report with that." I told him, hoping he'd be able to understand it.

"Really?" He asked me as he turned and faced me, I could only guess he felt stupid because of the look he was giving me.

"Yea." I nodded, and I was right about my hunch, because he gave himself a face plant and growled at himself.

"Thanks Sasuke." He sighed and turned to get into his folder and pulled out all his summaries, and they were a lot.

"What the hell did you read Gaara?" I asked as my jaw dropped, there looked to be roughly twenty summaries in the stack of papers he pulled out.

"I read a book that had two books printed together." He said, and I understood why … but which book could it have been? And he answered my unspoken question. "I read the Breathe series by Rebecca Donovan."

"I don't have that book series, what's it about?" I asked.

"You'll have to read it, but I think you might like it since you like Ellen Hopkins." Gaara said, now reaching over to his book shelf and pulled a very thick book from his book shelf and handed it over to me.

"This is a big book." I said as I took it thankfully and opened it to the first chapter and started reading it. "How long before you want it back?"

"When you're done." Gaara said and he started writing his book report with a quick write.

"Thanks." I nodded, then Gaara turned to face me, and he looked more tired than he had been since I last saw him.

"Is Naruto going to be alright?" He asked.

"He'll be fine, Gaara." I nodded. "And Itachi's going to talk to your father tomorrow while we're all at school. I'll make sure you can see Naruto this weekend, if it means that I drag you there myself."

"Thank you Sasuke." Gaara said, and hugged me, which I never thought he'd do. That's when I noticed that he felt warmer than he should.

"Gaara, are you feeling okay?" I asked when he pulled back from the hug, but I kept him still close to me as I put my forehead on his, and he was burning up so much that I had a red spot on my forehead when I pulled back.

"I'm tired, is all." He said as he turned back to his homework.

"Gaara, you're running a very high fever. Maybe you should go to the hospital so you can sleep and be monitored for that." I suggested, hoping he'd listen to me.

"I can't, Sasuke." He sighed, and he pissed me off right there.

"I'll be right back." I huffed and got up with the book in my hands and went to the kitchen, crossing my arms and trying to make myself look as frustrated as I possibly could.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" Kankuro asked, he looked bummed out about homework, and he looked ready to give up on it.

"Gaara has a fever." I said and the two shot up from their chairs so fast that I thought they were going to fall.

"Go get Dad, I'll get Gaara to the car." Temari told Kankuro and he went into the basement part of the house where the jewelry shop sat and I followed Temari down the hall to Gaara's room.

"Gaara, you should have told us if you didn't feel good." Temari said when she walked into his room and the two of us saw him hunched over his desk, his head resting on the surface as he sounded like he was sound asleep. "We need to hurry."

"Why?" I asked, hell, I had no idea it'd be this chaotic if Gaara got sick.

"Gaara isn't allowed to get sick because he has such a weak immune system. A simple cold could kill him." Temari said as she walked over to her brother and felt his forehead herself.

"Yea, he has a really high fever, Sasuke, can you help me get him to the car?" Temari said once she pulled her hand back from her brothers' forehead and I stepped in to pick him up. I figured bridal style was the best way to carry him as I picked him up after draping an arm over my shoulders to make it more comfortable if possible.

"Do you think I should go and get Naruto? He'll be pissed if something happened to Gaara and he doesn't know." I asked, stating the obvious as the two of us made our way outside after I managed to get my shoes on and found Kankuro and his dad already in Temari's car.

"Yes, I don't care what our father says, Naruto should be there." Temari told me before she opened the back door and I managed to get Gaara in the back with his brother before she closed the door and got in behind the wheel.

They couldn't leave until I moved my car so I quickly got in and drove off towards home as fast as I could without going over the speed limit.

"Hey, Itachi, is Naruto still in his room?" I asked as I burst through the front door without looking to see Naruto was out of his room and in the kitchen by the fridge, and I rushed through without taking my shoes off this time.

"Hey, Naruto, I need you to come with me." I said quickly when he pulled out a soda from the fridge.

"What's wrong now?" He whined, oblivious to what just happened at Gaara's.

"Didn't you notice anything wrong with Gaara when you called him a little bit ago?" I asked, trying not to alarm him or anything.

"He sounded exhausted, but more pissed by the time I was done talking to him." He said, opening his soda and taking a sip. "Why?"

"He … went to the hospital with a fever." I said quietly. "And he was asleep when I helped put him in the car."

"He's going to the hospital!?" Naruto screamed at me and almost spat his soda in my face.

"Yea, they're on their way now, and I wanted to come get you so you could be there for him." I told him, waving my hands in front of me in case he thought I was being an ass and wouldn't take him.

"When do we leave?" He asked, putting his soda on the counter as he steadied himself with the fridge.

"As soon as you're ready." I told him and he rushed past me and to his room, slamming the door behind him and I knew it was an accident and I took this opportunity to talk to Itachi.

"Don't slam the doors!" Itachi yelled once I got to his office.

"Gaara had to go to the hospital, I'm taking Naruto, wanna come?" I asked quickly in one breath.

"No, you two go, I'm about to go into a conference with Hiashi." Itachi answered.

"Okay, I'll call you with updates." I told him when I heard Naruto leave his room and rush back to the kitchen to get his drink and over to the front door.

"I'm ready Sasuke." I heard him say as I waved to Itachi and rushed up to the front door. I noticed that Naruto was carrying his backpack and it looked full, then glared at him because he knew he wasn't allowed to carry it.

"Take this." He said when he saw my glare and slipped on his sandals before the two of us left the house and got in the car.


	27. Chapter 27 Naruto

Author's Note; Sorry for the late triple update, I was going to update yesterday, but I got hit with whatever is making me sick. I still don't feel all that good, but at least my migraine is gone for the time being. Any who, here's the next three chapters. I hope you all enjoy!

_**Chapter 27**_

_**Naruto**_

I couldn't believe Gaara wouldn't tell me he didn't feel good. Hell, it pissed me off and when Sasuke told me, I wanted to rip something apart and scream at the top of my lungs. But given Gaara's situation with him not allowed to see me, I guessed he didn't want to worry me, but he should know me better. And I wouldn't give a rats ass about his father not letting me see him today. He's my boyfriend, I have a right to see him.

And when we saw Gaara's dad standing in the door way of his room, I was more than prepared to show him mercy when I stomped up to him and crossed my arms for a few moments before letting them back down by my sides when he started talking to me.

"You aren't allowed in here." Gaara's dad said when Sasuke and I made it up to his room with Sasuke carrying my bag for me, and I glared at him like Gaara would. I learned it from him well.

"If you don't let me see him, I'll make you regret keeping us apart." I hissed as I felt my hands clench tightly into fists by my sides.

"I don't care, really, you're not allowed to see him." His dad repeated. "And if you keep trying to, I'll make us move to where you can't."

"You wouldn't fucking dare!" I yelled, earning stares from the people in the hallway. "I know my father is a fucking jackass, but you're just cold hearted and you care only about your image! I have a right to see him!"

"You're too selfish to realize that him spending so much time worrying about you is making him sick!" His father yelled, and I thought he was going to hit me, but I never backed down a single inch from him when I saw his hand raise.

"Sir, if you don't lower your hand, I'll take it into personal account that I'll make sure you can't move for a month." Sasuke hissed behind me, and I knew he was serious.

"And if you think I'm selfish, think again, because I don't know how to be selfish!" I yelled and pushed my way past his father and into Gaara's room and planted myself in the seat next to his bed. I guess Temari and Kankuro made sure I had a seat to be in when I got here because I had seen Temari get up when I walked in.

The next thing I knew, wasn't something I expected to happen; I was grabbed by my hair and dragged out of the chair painfully by a strong hand. I didn't even have time to get level on my feet before I fell to the floor. The only thing holding me up was the hand still holding onto my hair.

"Get the fuck off me you bastard!" I yelled out in pain and frustration as I fought to get myself into position to kick the person in the leg.

Then suddenly, I felt a pop in my back and my vision went black for a few moments before I realized I was screaming so loud that my throat felt like it was being cut. But to be honest, I felt the most pain coming from the middle of my back and up. The thought that something happened to make me not feel pain below the middle of my back was making me terrified and I wanted nothing to do but cry.

"Get the fuck off of him Dad!" I heard Gaara scream once mine was over and I fell to the ground. Great, I woke him up.

"What the fuck is going on in here?" A loud voice said, I couldn't see who it was because my eyes were screwed shut and I was trying to take in a deep breath but whatever I did to get any real air into my lungs failed miserably.

I was so wrapped up in my pain that I didn't realize that someone was trying to help me to my feet, but I only cried out in more pain when I was moved even an inch.

"We need Tsunade now!" I heard Sasuke scream.

"S-Sasuke!" I said as loud as I could, mostly because I didn't know if my voice could work or not, and it sure as hell only came out in a loud groan more than anything.

"What is it Naruto?" He asked.

"K-Kick m-my leg, please." I asked, well, pleaded because I wanted to know if I had any feeling down below my mid back.

"Why do you want me to do that?" I heard Sasuke ask, and it sounded like he didn't want to move me at all.

"Just fucking do it!" I yelled as best as I could, now laying on my back because that seemed best to be in right at the moment.

The next thing I knew Sasuke stood up and I watched his leg to up, then back down … and I felt nothing except the pain in my back from the sudden move, and I could see whatever color Sasuke had in his face, suddenly drain and he looked even paler than he ever did in his life. That's when I watched him stomp his foot down and I still watched him get paler, until a few seconds later when his face become red with anger and frustration and turn to face whomever stood in the doorway.

"I should fucking kill you!" Sasuke yelled before I heard Tsunade's heeled foot steps come up to the room and stop by the door way.

"What the hell is going on in here?" She asked, apparently she couldn't notice I was on the floor, crying, in pain in only half of my body until whomever was standing in front of her moved and she screamed my name so loud that I thought something was going to break … like my ear drums.

"Why the fuck are you on the floor!?" She yelled a moment later and looked up at Sasuke, who was pointing at Gaara's father. "What the fuck did you do to him?"

"I did absolutely nothing, he did this to himself."

"That's a fucking lie you fucking bastard!" Sasuke screamed.

"Yea Father, you dragged Naruto out of the seat over there by his hair and didn't give him a chance to get his proper footing!" Temari screamed after him. God, why couldn't this just be over with? "You knew he had a bad back!"

"Did anything happen to your back Naruto?" Tsunade asked as she knelt next to me as she tried to soothe me while Sasuke left the room, dragging Gaara's dad out, and I honestly wanted to get off the hard floor.

"First … I … want off … the floor." I gasped.

"Sasuke went to get a couple nurses and a gurney." She said, and I believed her.

"My back popped … and I had Sasuke kick me … and stomp on one of my legs, and I couldn't feel anything he did." I said, now crying harder than I wanted by the time I was done explaining to her what happened to my back and I buried my face in my hands.

"Naruto, I'm going to explain a few things to you before we lift you okay?" Tsunade said softly to me as she tried to calm me down, and I nodded to let her know I had her attention.

"Your surgery is being moved to today, since you said your back popped, it means that fragment moved and is now probably putting serious strain on your spinal cord, and when we move you, try your best not to move at all, okay? Any sudden moved will probably make it worse." She explained, and I nodded once again to let her know I listened.

"I'm back with Saiken and Matatabi." Sasuke's voice rang into the room as I heard wheels in the background and stop behind me by the door.

"Thank you Sasuke." Tsunade said, turning her head to look back at him for a moment by the sound of her voice. "Okay Naruto, we're going to roll you onto your side so we can put a back board underneath you, to lift you off the floor okay?"

"Okay." I said, lowering my hands from my face when I heard two pairs of foot steps go to my sides and helped guide my hands across my chest before I was rolled onto my side. I had to bite my tongue hard until I felt warm liquid fill up in my mouth and was rolled back onto my back and I could tell now that I was laying on something, only because my shoulders felt it.

"Okay, Saiken and Matatabi lift by his head, Temari, Kankuro, lift by his feet and listen to what I say to get him out in the hallway." I heard Tsunade say and the corresponding foot steps letting me know I was about to finally get off the floor, and I kept my hands where they were because I wasn't told to move them yet.

"And stop biting your tongue Naruto, please." I heard Tsunade say before I was lifted off the floor until I felt the soft sheets of the gurney around my head and I knew I was able to relax a little bit, if I could.

"Okay, stay here Sasuke and I'll let you know the progress, and I'll have him sent up here to stay in the same room okay?" Tsunade said.

"No." I whined. "Let him come."

"Are you sure Naruto?" I heard Sasuke ask as he walked up to the side of the gurney, and it made me wonder where Gaara's dad was.

"Where's Gaara's dad?"

"He's in the waiting room with the police." Sasuke answered with his arms crossed.

"Oh …" I sighed and closed my eyes again. "This is all my fault."

"No it isn't Naruto!" Sasuke snapped.

"If I had just listened I wouldn't be hurting, Gaara wouldn't be freaking out and his Dad would be with him." I cried and buried my face in my hands once again as I cried.

"Stop that, please Naruto." Sasuke begged, and it sounded weird because he never begs. "I'll go with you only if you stop blaming yourself for everything."

"Why can't I get any pain medicine?" I said loudly, trying to change the subject, hoping that Tsunade would hurry up.

"Hey, Naruto, I'll be down in a few minutes. I'm going to talk to Gaara when Tsunade takes you down, but I will be there, okay?" Sasuke told me and I nodded. I was hoping he'd be able to calm Gaara down before he came to sit with me. And I had a feeling he was going to call Itachi also.

"Okay, Naruto, lets go down okay?" Tsunade asked me as she came into my field of view and I forced myself to smile, and I think she realized it was forced as Saiken and Matatabi pushed the gurney towards the elevators.

Why couldn't they give me pain medication right now?

"And we'll give you some pain medication once we get down stairs okay?" Tsunade said, and that was the best thing I heard all afternoon.

"Thanks so much baa-chan." I smiled and closed my eyes again. Just imagining the pain going away was making my back feel better, at least for a few minutes when the gurney suddenly stopped, making me jerk a little bit on the bed and cry out in a little pain.

"Get out of the way Raiden." I heard Tsunade hiss, and she sounded totally pissed off.

"I wanted to say something to Naruto …" A man said, wait, that's Gaara's father's name? So weird.

"Do you want to talk to him Naruto?" Tsunade asked me, and I honestly didn't know how to answer, but I did the best I could.

"You're a jackass, but I'll listen." I said, trying to sound calm, but there was a shake in my voice because of the pain.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I was just so frustrated that Gaara completely disregarded his own health and away from school that I became blind to what I was actually doing. I didn't mean to hurt you, I actually forgot you hurt your back completely and wearing a back brace under your clothes doesn't help either." Raiden said, more like dragged and made it more awkward by the second. "I just … worry about Gaara too much I guess."

"Gaara's father … Raiden right?" I started saying, then asked because I wanted to say the name myself, and when he nodded saying that I was right with his name, I continued with what I was going to say. "I love Gaara … and if I hadn't been finally focusing on my own well being, I would have made sure Gaara never got sick. I know he gets sick easily, but with the fact that my father isn't around right now and me having the back surgery Saturday … well now … I've been stressing myself over more than I normally do."

"I know, and I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for what happened." Raiden said as I heard Tsunade sigh heavily in annoyance.

"Thank you Raiden, now we need to get downstairs, I have to give him some pain medication still and get an open operating room ready." Tsunade said, and I heard Raiden walk off somewhere and an elevator open up.

God, this was the longest day of my damn life … I think.


	28. Chapter 28 Sasuke

_**Chapter 28**_

_**Sasuke**_

I was beyond pissed off when Gaara's dad dragged Naruto out of that chair from his hair, and I wished I had been fast enough to stop Gaara's father before any of this happened. I was just recovering from the shock of Naruto pushing Gaara's dad out of the way to get into the room and sat down on the chair that Temari happily gave to him. But when he started screaming, it was what dragged me out of my stupor and finally drag Gaara's dad off of him.

But even then, I was still too late, and I wanted to throw up because I was so pissed when I stomped on Naruto's right leg twice and nothing happened, I just hoped I didn't break his leg when I stomped on it … that's all I hoped on my part.

When Tsunade came in, I was more than ready to make sure Gaara's father took the blame for everything that happened.

"What the hell is going on in here?" She asked, apparently she couldn't notice Naruto was on the floor, crying, in pain and when Gaara's father, was standing in front of her, moved and she screamed Naruto's name so loud that I thought something was going to break … like all of our ear drums.

"Why the fuck are you on the floor!?" She yelled a moment later and looked up at me, and pointed at Gaara's father. "What the fuck did you do to him?"

"I did absolutely nothing, he did this to himself."

"That's a fucking lie you fucking bastard!" I screamed.

"Yea Father, you dragged Naruto out of the seat over there by his hair and didn't give him a chance to get his proper footing!" Temari screamed after him. God, why couldn't this just be over with? "You knew he had a bad back!"

"Did anything happen to your back Naruto?" Tsunade asked as she knelt next to Naruto as she tried to soothe him while I left the room, dragging Gaara's dad out. Tsunade didn't have to tell me to go and get a gurney for Naruto.

"Get your hands off of me Uchiha." Gaara's father growled as he finally ripped himself from my grasp once we were down the hall from Gaara's room.

"You are so close to having me kick your ass in public." I growled as I pinned him against the wall with my arm underneath his chin, pressing up against his adams apple and I didn't care if I was close to choking him or not.

"You seriously hurt Naruto, now how is your son going to act now that his only reason to be alive is in so much pain that Naruto probably wishes he didn't have to feel anymore?" I asked, my voice low so no one else would hear. "You're so centered around your own ego and self image that you probably don't care how your son feels. Now sit down in the waiting room and if you move, I'll tell the cops you laid a hand on an injured patient and now he has to have emergency surgery."

And with that I let Gaara's father down and pushed him towards the waiting room before I went to the nurses station and asked for Saiken and Matatabi.

"Yes Sasuke?" Matatabi asked when she heard me ask for her name.

"I need a gurney, Naruto's on the floor probably unconscious because of the pain in his back. Tsunade is with him now and they're all in Gaara's hospital room." I told her, just as Saiken came from the doors behind the station and I'm guessing she heard me because her and Matatabi rushed to get an empty gurney from the hall to my right and followed me to Gaara's room a moment later.

"I'm back with Saiken and Matatabi." I said when we reached Gaara's room and I let Saiken and Matatabi past me and I stood in the hall because there was absolutely no room for anyone else to stand inside Gaara's space. And from the looks of it, Temari and Kankuro were trying to calm him down.

"Thank you Sasuke." Tsunade said, turning her head to look back at me for a moment before she put all her attention back on Naruto. "Okay Naruto, we're going to roll you onto your side so we can put a back board underneath you, to lift you off the floor okay?"

"Okay." Naruto said, lowering his hands from his face Matatabi and Saiken went on either side of him and helped him guide his hands across his chest before he was rolled onto his side. I could tell Naruto bit his tongue hard by the time he was on his back because there was a small trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth.

"Okay, Saiken and Matatabi lift by his head, Temari, Kankuro, lift by his feet and listen to what I say to get him out in the hallway." Tsunade said and Kankuro and Temari left their brother and moved to Naruto's feet and got ready to lift him up. I just hoped he didn't jerk around.

"And stop biting your tongue Naruto, please." Tsunade said before Naruto was lifted off the floor and I could tell he couldn't get himself to relax no matter how hard he tried.

"Okay, stay here Sasuke and I'll let you know the progress, and I'll have him sent up here to stay in the same room okay?" Tsunade said, and I glared at her.

"No." Naruto whined. "Let him come."

"Are you sure Naruto?" I asked as I walked up to the side of the gurney and looked at him with worry filled eyes.

"Where's Gaara's dad?"

"He's in the waiting room with the police." I answered with my arms crossed, though I didn't know if the police detained the bastard or not.

"Oh …" Naruto sighed and closed his eyes again, and I could see the tears forming. "This is all my fault."

"No it isn't Naruto!" I snapped.

"If I had just listened I wouldn't be hurting, Gaara wouldn't be freaking out and his Dad would be with him." Naruto cried and buried his face in his hands once again.

"Stop that, please Naruto." I begged, and it sounded weird because I never beg. "I'll go with you only if you stop blaming yourself for everything."

"Why can't I get any pain medicine?" Naruto said loudly. And I knew he was trying to change the subject, hoping that Tsunade would hurry up.

"Hey, Naruto, I'll be down in a few minutes. I'm going to talk to Gaara when Tsunade takes you down, but I will be there, okay?" I told him and he nodded.

"Okay, Naruto, lets go down okay?" Tsunade said as she went over to Naruto's side and I forced I could see him forcing himself to smile as I turned and went back into the room.

"I'm so sorry about my father." Temari said, rushing over to me as she spoke quickly.

"It's alright." I said and walked over to the side of Gaara's bed and sat next to him. He looked like he calmed down, but I could tell he was far from it.

"Gaara …" I said quietly.

"Yea?" He asked, and his voice was too calm for words.

"Naruto's back surgery is being moved to the next half hour … I'm going to go down and be with him until he's moved up here okay?" I told him, and I know he shouldn't be kept from this information either, no matter how pissed off he'd get. "I already reprimanded your father, but I don't know what he's going to do now … I'll leave it up to you if you want him back in here, okay?"

"Okay." Gaara said, still in that same calm voice, but I was sure he'd do the right thing as I stood up.

"Tsunade said he's coming back up to this room when his surgery is over with." I added before I forgot. "So I'll be back up when Naruto's either done with surgery or brought back up here."

"Thank you Sasuke." Gaara said, and he went quiet, and from the sound of his breathing, he fell asleep, and I'm glad he did. He looked beyond horrible.

"I'll be texting you when I can." I told Temari and Kankuro as I walked out of the room with Naruto's things and headed to the nurses station.

"Oh, Sasuke, Tsunade asked me to take you downstairs where she took Naruto." Saiken's voice said before she appeared next to me, startling me because I didn't even know she was still up here.

"Oh, thanks." I nodded and followed her downstairs in the most awkward silence we could possibly be in.

Naruto's surgery took forever, but I knew it was a tedious process because of where the problem was. I had only hoped that Naruto would be better after this and would keep walking. I don't know what he'd do if he was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. And I shuddered at the thought of having to help him get dressed and bathe when he wasn't getting help from Gaara. God, I think he'd be more embarrassed than I would be.

And when Tsunade came out to the waiting room where I was sitting, waiting patiently, she sat down next to me and sighed heavily.

"We were successful, but he's going to have a long ass recovery ahead of him. Learn how to walk again, but other than that, he'll be running, jumping and doing everything he used to in a month or two." She told me, and I couldn't help but smile.

"That's good, now, what is he not allowed to do until he's fully healed?" I asked, knowing I should ask to make sure nothing else happens.

"If he walks, tell him he'll be paralyzed for the rest of his life. It might not be true, but it could also be true." Tsunade said without hesitation. "And, when it comes to bathing and changing … baths are okay. He can wash himself up, he'll just need help getting in and out and probably drying off too, and he'll just need help with changing for two weeks."

"Great." I mumbled as I rubbed my face with my palm and groaned. I was probably blushing too, but I didn't care.

"I know it's embarrassing, but it has to be done." Tsunade smirked.

Then it hit me, I completely forgot about Itachi.

"Fucking shit!" I yelled and jumped up to my feet, digging for my cell phone as I held a panicked look upon my face.

"You didn't call Itachi!?" Tsunade yelled at me.

"I forgot! Hell, I've been too worried about the stupid idiot all evening." I argued back once I found my phone and stepped off to the side and called Itachi with speed dial.

"Itachi Uchiha speaking …" Itachi said once he picked up two rings later, and he sounded like I just woke him up or something.

"Itachi, it's Sasuke … Uhm … don't be pissed off with me okay …" I mumbled, scratching the back of my neck as I spoke nervously.

"Get on with it Sasuke, it's one in the morning. Wait, where the fuck are you and Naruto? I thought you two were coming home after visiting for a few hours." Itachi said, now fully awake once he realized what time it was.

"That's the problem … uhm … Gaara's dad made it so Naruto had to have his surgery tonight … I was so pissed off with him that I completely forgot to call you." I said, and braced myself for his harsh words that I knew would come.

"What the fuck? I'm on my way now!" Itachi screamed in my ear and hung the phone up before I could tell him anything else and sighed heavily. I deserved every one of those words … and more … I knew I'd hear more of it from him when he got here.

"He's on his way isn't he?" Tsunade asked when I sat down with her again and sank in my seat.

"Yea, and he's beyond pissed off. But I don't know who he's more mad at … me or Gaara's dad." I said.

"I think it might be equal, but I'm not sure, this is Itachi …" Tsunade said as she leaned back in her seat.

"Well, I need to go up and tell Gaara the good news about Naruto." I yawned, standing up and stretching before I picked up Naruto's bag and slung it over my head since it was more comfortable to carry it that way than just over one shoulder.

"Okay, I'm coming up when Naruto's going up. I have another surgery that's quick and painless so he should be ready to move by the time that one is done and over with." Tsunade said as she too stretched and cracked her knuckles.

"Good luck, Tsunade." I waved as I walked towards the elevators.

"Bye Sasuke." She waved back and I headed upstairs on the flights of stairs. I needed the exercise, I had probably ten cups of coffee while I was waiting for Naruto to get out of surgery because I was that nervous, and it was starting to get to me already. I couldn't stop twitching and I had slight muscle spasms once every few minutes. I'm just praying that I'm not having a caffeine over dose problem. I didn't need that added to the list of problems for today.

"Sasuke!" I heard Gaara scream at me once I walked through the door to his room and I froze, thinking that something terrible was wrong, but it was just Gaara jumping out of his bed and pulling me into the room some more so hard I thought I was going to fall flat on my face as soon as the door was closed. "Tell me Naruto is okay!"

"He's perfectly fine!" I said, panic evident in my voice when Gaara had picked me up by the collar of my shirt and pinned me against the wall behind the door. "I just talked with Tsunade and she says that he'll be up and about like his good old self in a month or two."

The next thing that scared me, was that Gaara pulled me into the tightest hug he ever gave me in his life and started crying into my shirt. I did the best thing I could do and I held him in my arms and let him cry. He needed the frustration he was holding inside of him to be let loose or he was going to mentally lose it completely. And I think he knew it as well, too.

"I'm so glad that nothing else bad happened." Gaara said after a few minutes of calming down and he let me go just as the door opened and Itachi walked in, with a pissed off look on his face and I felt threatened for the second time since I walked into this room.

"You didn't tell your brother anything, did you?" Gaara asked me.

"I forgot to call him earlier." I admitted with a loud gulp.

"You should be asleep Gaara." Were Itachi's first words to me when he walked in and closed the door behind him.

"I refused to go to sleep until I knew Naruto was alright … and I woke up half an hour ago anyway." Gaara said, looking down at the floor because he knew Itachi was right.

"Want me to go get Matatabi or Saiken to give you some sleeping aid?" Itachi asked.

"If you want … I don't think I can go to sleep on my own again anyway, even with this fever I still have." Gaara nodded.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Itachi nodded and left the room before I could say anything to him. Hell, if he was planning on ignoring me … he was doing one hell of a job.

"I think he's more pissed off at my father, than he is at you, Sasuke." Gaara mentioned before he climbed back into the hospital bed and covered himself up with the thin blanket he was given.

"I don't know, he's giving me the silent treatment." I sighed.

"Well, ask him when he gets back. I'm sure I'm right." Gaara suggested, and I was going to take him up on it. And it was then that I realized that Temari and Kankuro weren't here …

"Where's your siblings at?" I asked.

"I think I told them to take Dad home … I don't remember." Gaara said. "I'm hoping they rip Dad a new one before I do."

"I think I sent him the message earlier." I chuckled. "And he was scared of me too."

"I'm glad." Gaara smirked as he crossed his arms. I could only smirk back because seeing his father scared of me was something I was trying to accomplish. No one messes with my best friends the way he's doing … and Naruto's father was next.


	29. Chapter 29 Naruto

_**Chapter 29**_

_**Naruto**_

Nothing hurt more compared to how I was laying down on my back. I wanted to roll over, to do something to get into a more comfortable position because this was bullshit and it was keeping me awake. And I was blaming Tsunade for putting me on my back.

But no matter what I did, I couldn't get myself to wake up more, to move and get someone's attention to help me. All I could do was lay there and hope that whatever sedative they used on me would finally ware off, and a few minutes later, I was finally able to get myself to groan loudly and lift my arm just a little bit. But I was able to get someone's attention, and I recognized the voice as someone I had been dying to hear from.

"Hey, Naruto." Gaara's voice said as I slowly forced my eyes open to see if it really was him in case my mind was playing tricks on me. But I smiled wide when I saw it really was him.

"Gaara." I said hoarsely.

"Water?" He asked, and I nodded slowly, the move sending a rush of pain through my whole entire body, save for the middle of my back and lower, I still couldn't feel anything down there and I wanted to cry. Because that meant the surgery wasn't successful.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Gaara asked when he came back, and I must have been crying and I didn't know it.

"Did the surgery even work?" I asked.

"Tsunade said it'd be a few days or more before complete feeling came back, but it was a success, she said." Gaara answered.

"Then pinch my leg as hard as you can." I said, and he looked at me like I was nuts, but he did it anyway and slid his hand under the blanket and pinched at my shin as hard as he could. It took a moment, but I could feel the pain and winced, I guess he was right.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, reaching up to rub at my eyes to get the sleep out of them.

"You were out for two days, it's Saturday morning." Gaara told me, and I glared at him.

"Did you stay here the entire time Gaara?" I asked.

"I had to, my fever didn't go away until last night." He told me, and then I remembered he had to be here. Fuck, now I feel inconsiderate of him.

"Well, that's what Matatabi told me, I woke up half an hour ago. I told them to make me sleep for a couple days and they did." Gaara shrugged, and I huffed.

"At least you're better and you got some sleep." I smiled, and he leaned in and kissed my lips softly. I could feel myself melt when our lips touched, and I missed that feeling a lot. Then my eyes snapped open and I started lightly hyperventilating. "Where are my stuff!?"

"Oh, Sasuke took them home last night after he visited for a little bit. Matatabi told me." He said, and I nodded. I could trust Sasuke with my stuff.

"I only asked because the necklace you gave me is with my stuff." I sighed heavily.

"Sasuke told me before I went to sleep two days ago that your house was broken into … I'm glad they didn't find it, because I'd go insane if they did."

"I would have too. But the thing is, I was already mentally snapping, which is why I went off on your Dad in the first place." I told him, now avoiding all eye contact with him as I looked up at the ceiling and counted the cracks.

"I know." Gaara sighed, but he didn't seem upset or anything.

"I'm sorry Gaara …" I sighed, and could feel the tears falling once again.

"Don't, please Naruto."

"It's my fault anyway. I should have just listened to your father. I knew what he would do and I knew he would do it anyway. If I had just listened, I wouldn't be in this bed right now and be getting ready for the surgery right now."

"Naruto, stop, it's not your fault." Gaara snapped, and I could tell I was getting on his nerves. But no matter what he said, I still felt guilty for all this.

"So, you're finally awake Naruto." Kurama's voice echoed into the room and I visibly tensed even though it hurt like hell. Why was he coming in here alone? Now I was starting to get pissed off.

"Tsunade's on her way up, she wanted to check up on you before she went home to get some sleep. And you're up as well Gaara." Kurama said as I watched him lean against the doorway with his arms crossed. At least he wasn't walking right into the room, looks like he remembered out last conversation. Good.

"I woke up half an hour ago." Gaara told him, grabbing my hand and giving it a soft squeeze. I guess he saw me tense up and was trying to help me relax, even a little bit.

"Tsunade's going to wish you slept a little bit longer." Kurama said, and I know he was right, because as soon as Tsunade walked in, she glared at Gaara before she walked over to the side of my bed and crossed her arms.

"You're supposed to be in bed Gaara." She said, and I watched Gaara sink in his chair. Gaara might know how to be scary when he needs to be, but Tsunade scared the shit out of him and I couldn't help but giggle at the look on his face.

"Well, when I woke up and saw Naruto in the bed next to me, I couldn't go back to sleep." Gaara said, defending himself as he tightened his grip on my hand. It didn't hurt, and I liked it when he held my hand.

"I need to see if you still have a slight fever …" Tsunade sighed heavily. "Now go lay down while I check over Naruto."

Gaara sighed as he got up and went around the foot of my bed and laid down in the bed next to mine. I could tell he was depressed about leaving my side, and he hated the fact that he let himself get sick in the first place … which is my fault also.

"Now, Naruto, how are you feeling this morning?" Tsunade asked as she checked my vitals.

"I want to move off of my back." I said, shifting slightly under the cold stethoscope.

"Stop moving you gaki." Tsunade hissed and smacked the top of my head, earning a hiss of pain from me as she now started taking my blood pressure.

"Why do you have to be so mean baa-chan?" I whined, trying my best to keep my arm still while my free arm twitched slightly.

"I said stop moving or I'm taking your vitals all over again." Tsunade snapped and I made my body rigid, but not stiff at the same time. Hell, I couldn't help it and she knew it!

"Okay, your vitals are normal, and you can put your head up just enough to drink and eat, though you're going on a liquid diet until you can sit up completely and eat. I'll keep you in here one more night before I'll send you home with Sasuke and Itachi." Tsunade told me a few moments of silence later and I smiled in the beginning, but frowned from the moment she said 'liquid diet' and scoffed.

"That's so un fair!"

"You'll be back eating full out ramen before you know it Naruto, now just do what I say so you won't end up back in the hospital!" Tsunade said, but ended up screaming by the end of what she was saying and I brought the blanket up over half of my face in attempt to hide from her and nodded quickly even though it hurt a little bit.

"Good boy." She smiled and patted my hair before going over to Gaara's bed, where Gaara was sniggering quietly over my demise and I turned my head over in his direction and glared.

"Don't think you're out of the woods either Gaara." Tsunade smirked when she got over to Gaara's side and his sniggering suddenly stopped, now it was my turn to chuckle at him.

"Well, your fever is most definitely gone, but I'd stay in bed for another day. I'll keep you here one more night too, just to be on the safe side. Okay?" Tsunade said after a few minutes and sat in the chair between our two beds.

"Alright." Gaara nodded, and he looked over to me with a slight glare for laughing at him, but I only smiled and he smiled back, which made me happier.

"So, Tsunade, has my father been in since then?" Gaara asked a few quiet moments later, and I was shocked that he even asked.

"Every day, and Naruto, you have something to tell Gaara before you forget about it." Tsunade said, now looking at me and I looked at her like she was some crazy person because I had no idea what she was talking about, until it hit me in the face and I shot my gaze over to Gaara and bit my bottom lip hard.

"Tell me what?" Gaara asked, now looking at me with a look that said 'if you don't tell me I'll drag it out of you' kind of look and I gulped loudly.

"He apologized before I went down to my surgery …" Was all I said, because I honestly don't remember much of what he said other than that.

"He … did what?" Gaara asked, his eyes wide and I know how he feels. Gaara's father never apologized for anything he did, no matter how much it hurt someone else's feelings.

"I did the same thing, though I kept those thoughts to myself … he actually apologized to me!" I said, my voice raising on accident as I tried to sit up, completely forgetting why I was in a hospital bed to begin with and was painfully reminded why when I felt a sharp pain in my back.

"Move again and I'll have you strapped down so you can't." Tsunade threatened, and I nodded quickly.

"Well you're a crazy old bat that just loves making me lay on my sore ass back when I would gladly love to move at least a little bit to find a comfortable spot that wouldn't hurt so much!" I yelled, and wishing I hadn't used the words 'crazy old bat' … because she's now glaring daggers at me that feel like they're piercing right through my heart and I felt my stomach sink lower than it usually does when she got up to her feet and stormed towards me.

"Old … bat?" She asked, repeating the very words I had dreaded since the moment they left my mouth and I felt that these were my last moments alive when she grabbed a pillow and started hitting me in the head with it as hard as she possibly could. "You dare call me old?" She yelled again, completely ignoring my cries of pain.

Tsunade was being irrational keeping me here in the hospital bed … well, strapped to it like I'm planning on leaving when she knows I can't! It's frustrating listening to the old bat when she's hysterical and I honestly wished I hadn't said that out loud earlier before she buried my face into a pillow for a few seconds before yelling for Matatabi to strap me down to the bed because I had moved to get the pillow off of my face so I could breathe and she stomped out of the room just when Matatabi walked in looking just as flustered as Tsunade was.

"Naruto, would you like any pain medication? Your back I probably hurting right now." She asks when she's done strapping me to the bed and I glared at her for a few seconds before sighing heavily.

"Please?" I answered, trying not to sound like I was desperate, because I was and I hated sounding like that. Matatabi, who has been my nurse every time I come in here, knows me well enough that I hate sounding like that.

"Okay." She smiled. "I'll be right back." And she left me in the room to finally be alone with Gaara, while he's awake.

"So, Naruto, you really like getting on her nerves don't you?" Gaara asked, and I knew who he was talking about.

"Tsunade-baa-chan takes everything I say too seriously when it comes to her age and shit." I smirked as he got up and sat in the chair between our beds and held my hand as I turned my head to look at him.

"You need to stop provoking her, she might make sure you don't leave the hospital until your dying day." Gaara said, but with a smile to let me know he was joking with me.

"She can't keep me here." I smirked. "Because I know full well that I'll annoy her so much she'll be begging to get me out of her hair."

"You've only been awake for half an hour and you already pissed Tsunade off? Damn, Naruto, you broke the record." A familiar voice said from the door way and I beamed daggers at the owner of the voice …

"Hey, Sasuke-teme, took you long enough to get here." I smirked.

"Well, I can tell you're going to be bouncing off the walls within a month … So how're you feeling Gaara?" Sasuke said, completely ignoring what I said as he sat down in the other chair, all of his attention now fixed on Gaara and I pouted visibly.

"Fever is gone, but she wants me to stay one more night to make sure it is." Gaara told him, and I felt more invisible the longer they talked. Apparently Sasuke had made up his mind when he woke up to piss me off as much as possible today if I was awake. And it was working perfectly … That's when I realized that he didn't have his one hundred percent Sasuke Uchiha coolness, and he looked like shit none the less.


	30. Chapter 30 Sasuke

Author's Note; I'm sorry for being late! I'm obsessed with defeating this stupid game called New Super Mario Bros I picked up at my library! I hate world 7! Dx But now I'm on world 8 :3 I'm a happy girl. Bwahaha.

Naruto; You were ignoring me all week! Wench!

Me; Me? Ignore my nee-chan? Neeeever. xD

Naruto; I'm not a damn girl!

Sasuke; You sound like one when you scream. -smirks.-

Itachi; Stop it Sasuke, Erika, you're making the little girl cry. -has a poker face-

Naruto; I hate you! -seething-

Me; Okay nii-chan. -Hugs poor Naruto-

Naruto; You ... Oh my God! An Uchiha is hugging me!

Itachi and Sasuke; -face palms- Uchiha's don't hug Erika!

Me; Didn't I already establish that I'm not a normal Uchiha? Hence ... why you barely remember me Sasuke-kun. Now, on with the story! :)

_**Chapter 30**_

_**Sasuke**_

I woke up with another headache today. I guess it's because last night was the second night in a row that I stole Itachi's booze so I could get myself to sleep. So far, Itachi wasn't getting pissed that at least four of his beers were missing, but he'll have a fucking cow when he notices a good portion of his whiskey is gone. I only got into that one because it took four beers to put me asleep two nights ago.

"Sasuke … Uchiha!" Itachi screamed so loud I could have sworn that he was standing just outside my room, but then it dawned on me that I didn't put away the whiskey before I somehow made it back into my room last night.

After realizing what had happened, I bolted out of bed and rushed down the hallway so I wouldn't keep my already pissed off brother waiting any longer than I already made him wait and stood in the walk way to the kitchen. I, honestly, was too scared to go anywhere near the obviously enraged man in front of me.

Gulping loudly, I felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of my face as I spoke, "Yes … nii-san?"

He didn't have so speak, he held up the bottle of whiskey … that barely had a third of it left, and it was just opened by me after he went to bed last night.

"I was okay with a beer here and there as long as I'm awake. But four beers one night and over half a fucking bottle of whiskey in the next?" Itachi yelled, making my head hurt worse than it already was. "I'm officially getting rid of all the hard liquor in this house and I'm locking up my beer. I swear, if I find you with anything else that has alcohol in it before you're twenty one, I'll tan your hide so hard you won't be able to sit for a month!"

And he opened the whiskey, pouring it down the drain before getting the other two bottles and the only vodka bottle we had in the house and poured them down the drain too.

"Did you get sick at all before you went to bed?" Itachi asked, his voice hoarse from the yelling, but I could tell he was trying to calm himself down.

"I think once, I don't remember." I sighed truthfully, looking down at the floor because I honestly didn't want to make eye contact with him.

"Did you drink it straight?"

"No, I drank a lot of it with my stash of soda I kept in my room." I answered. I knew this was definitely true, there were empty soda cans all over my bedroom.

Itachi sighed heavily and threw the now empty bottles away before he stepped into reaching distance in front of me.

I was expecting him to hit me, knock some sense into my thick skull because I deserved it, but I wasn't expecting to be embraced with a hug.

"As long as you're okay, then I'm happy." He said, and I nodded.

He had every right to be pissed off with me, so I don't know why he didn't try to punish me.

"And, the hangover is punishment enough." Itachi added when he pulled back and flicked two fingers on my forehead between my eyes, knowing it'd send a shot of pain through my head like his yelling did.

"You're not driving for another hour, so take your time getting ready to visit Gaara and Naruto." Itachi added before I nodded again. "And I'll have some coffee made in ten minutes." I nodded once more, walking to the cabinet and grabbed a trash bag before going back to my room and closed the door.

I tossed the folded trash bag onto my bed and sighed heavily as I turned my light on and looked about my bedroom, taking in the damage as I realized I drank nearly two hole twelve pack cases of the only soda I drank.

"Jesus, fuck." I growled at myself, holding my stomach, vowing silently that I'm done with soda for a month before I picked up the trash bag once again and started cleaning up my room and looked at my clock to see what time it was … and read eight o'clock in the morning. Fuck, even with a hangover, I can't sleep past normal wake up time.

"Hey, Sasuke, you need to wake up." I heard Itachi's voice say calmly next to me.

Groaning, I rolled over onto my back, putting an arm over my eyes to block out the sunlight coming in from my window.

What time was it?

Hell, when did I fall back asleep?

"It's going on noon, if you want to spend some time with your two friends that are in the hospital, then drink this and wait ten minutes before getting up." Itachi said, helping me sit up as he put one of our black coffee cups into my hand that smelled disgusting. I already wanted to puke.

"What is this shit?" I asked, putting a hand over my mouth so if I did puke, I could hold it back until I got to either my trash can I kept by my bed or the bathroom behind Itachi.

"I called Tsunade, got scolded, and she told me to make this and give it to you. Said it will help you get the alcohol out of your system. Apparently, you've drank enough for it to be considered binge drinking." Itachi explained. "If you have to, clamp your nose shut, down it and I'll clamp your mouth shut for two minutes to make sure you don't puke it right up."

"I think I may be fine." I sighed, but I had little doubt in my ability to keep this putrid mixture down at all.

Doing what Itachi suggested, I took a deep breath before camping my nose shut and poured it down my throat. To my surprise, I couldn't taste it much, but I could tell that there was some kind of spice to it.

Then it hit me, and my stomach churned so violently that I clamped my mouth shut and held my stomach as I doubled over.

"Did you have any other alcohol before the whiskey?" Itachi asked, surprising me because I thought he left my room already.

I shook my head, afraid that I'd puke if I talked.

"That's good then, lay back down and I'll come get you when ten minutes has gone by." He sighed before grabbing the cup off the floor that I don't remember dropping and left my room.

Taking his advice, I laid back down on my bed and curled up into a ball, praying that in ten minutes, the pain and the nausea would go away.

I'm. Never. Drinking. Again.

"Thanks for driving Itachi." I yawned as the two of us drove towards the hospital. I, honestly, didn't trust my judgment today to even try to be behind the wheel. Apparently, neither did Itachi.

"There's no need for thanks." He said, and he was absolutely right, I'm not driving because it's completely my fault anyway.

But whatever.

"Oh, and I wouldn't tell Naruto, you know how he is towards alcohol." Itachi warned, and I nodded. Truth be told, if Naruto had the guts, he would have already beat his old man with a bat because of his drinking habits. I don't want to know what he'd do if I started drinking.

"But seriously, he's been around alcohol long enough to know what someone looks like when they're having a damned hangover." I complained out loud, using the cold window on my door as a pillow. It felt good.

"I know, but if he says something, don't lie, it makes it worse." Itachi added, and I nodded again. Once again, knowing Itachi was right.

"I'm going to drop you off and find a parking spot, it's Saturday so everyone's visiting at the same time." Itachi said once we drove onto the hospital grounds and saw that nearly every parking spot here was taken by some car or other vehicle of transportation.

I groaned, mostly because I didn't want to walk, but when Itachi pulled up to the doors and stopped the car, I got out and closed my door and decided to walk in and go up to the room while Itachi found a parking spot. He knew where their room was, he had been there yesterday, so I could leave him to go up by himself.

When I got upstairs, I could hear Tsunade yelling all the way down the hall. Complaining about being called old or something like that, and I knew full well that Naruto was awake and getting on her nerves already. I just had to smirk at his amazing guts, because I didn't even have them to get her pissed off.

"Oh, Sasuke, you're here." I heard Tsunade a few minutes later as I was taking my time to get to Naruto's and Gaara's room, I didn't even realize she left their room already until she was standing in front of me with her arms crossed.

"Yea …"I nodded, and I know she was looking me over with hardened eyes, probably to see if the putrid concoction she had Itachi make was working.

"Have you thrown up yet?" She asked.

"No … the nausea has been gone the last twenty minutes …" I answered, yawning again.

"If you throw up after drinking that mixture, you'll have to be hospitalized and probably have to get a liver transplant. So if you get sick at all, even a little bit, come and find me right away." She said, and now I know the reason why Itachi had been asking if I felt nauseous since I drank it.

"Is it that bad if I throw up?"

"It is, because that means your liver is failing." She answered, and I think I lost the last bit of color in my face as I gulped loudly.

"All because I wanted to get some fucking sleep!" I screamed, mostly at myself as I grabbed my hair and pulled on it so hard I felt some strands rip from my scalp. And I would have kept on pulling if I didn't feel hands on mine and that's when I realized that Tsunade was standing closer to me with a look of concern.

"Are you that worried about Naruto and Gaara, Sasuke?" She asked, and she was calmer than I've ever seen her be.

"I keep worrying that Naruto's going to be a cripple for the rest of his life and Gaara freaked me the fuck out when he got sick … I've never seen him sick like that before …" I answered, truthfully, avoiding eye contact because an Uchiha never admits when they're scared.

"Well, you can stop worrying, because Gaara's fever is gone and Naruto can feel below his waist." She smiled, and I only blinked at her. "It's faint, but he can feel. It will be a couple more days before he gets full feel, but he won't be a cripple for the rest of his life."

I nodded, looking down at the ground because of how pathetic I've been these last two days and sighed heavily.

"Okay, well go visit, Gaara's been up for about an hour and Naruto's been up for the last half hour, you have the rest of the day to catch up." Tsunade smiled when I looked up and she walked on past me to go and do her job.

I sighed once again and continued on my way to the room, dreading the line of questions that Naruto might ask if he put one and one together, and when I heard them talking, I stopped just outside the door where they couldn't hear me so I could hear what they were saying.

"You need to stop provoking her, she might make sure you don't leave the hospital until your dying day." Gaara said, but with a smile to let me know he was joking with me.

"So, Naruto, you really like getting on her nerves don't you?" Gaara asked, it was obvious who he was talking about.

"Tsunade-baa-chan takes everything I say too seriously when it comes to her age and shit." I heard Naruto say as I heard someone get up out of a bed, Gaara must be able to leave his bed now.

"You need to stop provoking her, she might make sure you don't leave the hospital until your dying day." Gaara said

"She can't keep me here." Naruto said. "Because I know full well that I'll annoy her so much she'll be begging to get me out of her hair."

"You've only been awake for half an hour and you already pissed Tsunade off? Damn, Naruto, you broke the record." I smirked as I finally walked into the room, now leaning against the door frame as I crossed my arms.

"Hey, Sasuke-teme, took you long enough to get here." Naruto smirked as he turned his head to look at me. And he really did piss her off … enough to be strapped down like some crazy person.

"Well, I can tell you're going to be bouncing off the walls within a month … So how're you feeling Gaara?" I said, completely ignoring what he said as I sat down in the other chair, all of my attention now fixed on Gaara and I watched Naruto pout.

"Fever is gone, but she wants me to stay one more night to make sure it is." Gaara told me, and just to point out, he did look much better than he did the two days he was asleep.

"Well, that's good." I shrugged, now feeling Naruto's glare bore through me like daggers and I sank in the chair I was sitting in.

"What the hell did you do?" Naruto growled, great, he found out much sooner than I thought he would.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to avoid the conversation.

"I know what someone looks like with a fucking hangover you bastard!" Naruto yelled. "I'm not that stupid!"

"Hey, gaki, there are people on this floor that are trying to sleep!" Tsunade's voice yelled behind me, making me jump because I had no idea that she was there in the first place.

"Does it look like I care?" Naruto snapped, but hell I didn't think he'd be this pissed off.

"Well try to be more quiet, next time you want to yell at the moron in front of me, make sure the door is closed. At least then your voice will be muffled." She snapped right back.

Moron? Who the fuck is the moron?

"I'm not fucking moron!" I hissed as I sat up and turned to glare at her.

"You have no room to talk." Tsunade growled and hit me, hard, on top of my head and I honestly thought that, combined with my hangover I still felt, I was going to be knocked out. But I only saw stars and some black spots in my vision. "And I barely hit you so sit up."

"You are so fucking evil!" I complained as I slowly sat up while rubbing my head, hoping that the throbbing would stop.

"How much did you drink?" Naruto asked, the one question that I was dreading to hear from him and gulped loudly before looking up at Tsunade to see if I should tell him or not.

But when she looked down at me, she sighed heavily and crossed her arms.

"Tell him, he'll find out sooner or later." She shrugged and walked out.

"Find out what?" Naruto growled, not liking the fact that I was ignoring him.

"I … drank four beers two nights ago and last night I drank over half a bottle of whiskey." I sighed, my voice low so I prayed he didn't hear me.

"You … did what!?" Naruto yelled, and I could see his arms flying up to try and take the strap off of his chest, and I completely regretted coming in at all today.

"Naruto, stop it, do you want to hurt your back again?" Gaara said as he tried to keep Naruto from moving more.

"I don't give a fuck! I'm going to pound Sasuke's ass so hard he'll wish he weren't even born!" Naruto yelled, making Tsunade run into the room with Matatabi. Then it dawned on me … where in the fuck was Itachi?

"Calm down Naruto! If you don't I'll sedate you until tomorrow!" Tsunade warned as her and Matatabi pinned Naruto's shoulders and arms down.

"Then sedate me! Because I mean it when I said I was going to pound him!" Naruto hissed, and I pushed the chair back away from the bed, but the chair stopped on something and I know, personally, that there was nothing behind me.

"Hey, Itachi, what the hell were you thinking letting your kid brother do that?" Naruto said, confirming that someone was standing behind me and I sank into my chair.

"Naruto, calm down, he's already being punished enough with his hangover, and I already told him he's not having anymore while living in my house." Itachi said, and I looked down at my knees in shame. "Besides, all the alcohol, besides my beer, has been poured down the drain and my beer is being locked up. So he can't get it anymore."

"How did he even know where the liquor was?"

"I didn't hide it well enough, but I never, in a million years, thought he'd drink it in the first place." Itachi answered.

"You and me both Itachi …" Naruto said, the first time in a calmed voice, though you could still sense the hurt behind the words and I tried even harder to make myself invisible to the room. But the only eyes I could feel on me were Gaara's, and I knew he was pissed off at me for making Naruto so upset. I was going to hear it from him later.

"Now, are you going to behave, Naruto?" Tsunade huffed as she and Matatabi let Naruto go, both of them looking like they used a lot of energy to keep Naruto still.

"Yes, now leave, I want to be left alone." Naruto said, looking towards Gaara, but I could tell he wanted Gaara out too, if I knew him well enough.

"Gaara, you can walk around if you want. It will help you loosen up some sore muscles you might have from sleeping for a few days." Tsunade said as Matatabi left the room to take care of another patient across the hall that was calling for her.

"Maybe in a little bit." Gaara nodded, his glare returning to me a moment later, making me know that he was going to definitely have a word with me and I sank further into my chair.

"I'm going to get something to eat." Itachi said behind me, making me jump because I thought he walked out a few minutes ago with Matatabi. And before he left, he ruffled my hair, earning a growl of protest from me as he walked off and I tried to fix my already messy hair that I didn't bother to do anything with today after my shower.

"I'll be back in an hour to give you some more pain medication if you need it." Tsunade said and walked out before she could get something from Naruto to know he heard her and then the room was deathly quiet with just the three of us in here.

"Why did you do it Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his voice low and he still wasn't turning his head to look at me.

"I wasn't trying to drink that much, I was just trying to drink so I could get to sleep because I haven't been sleeping well the last few days." I honestly answered. "It took four beers to get me to sleep and I didn't even know how much whiskey I even had until the next morning when Itachi went down my throat for even getting into it."

"You drink again and I'll rip your dick off and shove it down your throat." Naruto threatened. "And it's not a threat, it's a fucking promise."

"Yes sir." I nodded quickly, but not so quick that my head was going to split open.

"Sasuke, did you even shower today?" Gaara asked, and I could understand why.

"I did, just didn't bother to do much because of my head hurting." I answered.

"You look like shit … I'm surprised that you didn't die of alcohol poisoning from drinking so much whiskey." Gaara said, sitting back in his chair as he crossed his arms.

"Tsunade said the same thing, but she said that if I throw up by tomorrow … I'll probably have to have a liver transplant or something." I told him, now wondering why I'm even talking about this in front of Naruto because I know he's getting more pissed off the longer we talk about it. The whole atmosphere in the room was becoming darker and darker, and more suffocating as the seconds passed.

"Do you feel like puking right now?" Gaara asked, and there was a hint of worry in his voice.

"No, actually, I've felt nausea free for the last … I think hour or something close to that." I told him. "So I think I'm free from that."

"You're damn lucky." Naruto finally said, but it was bitter and I knew that whenever he came home it wasn't going to be pretty. He'll want to avoid me and not let me help him with anything and he'll probably hurt himself more also … I needed to get this settled before I went home.

"Naruto, I know, and believe me when I said I'm never drinking again. If I had been able to notice how much I was drinking last night I would have stopped after one try, you know me better than this." I said, my voice sounding scratchy and whiny and I really hated it. "You know that I wouldn't have gone and drank any alcohol unless I had a moral reason to."

"Shut up, your voice is too whiny for an Uchiha." Naruto said, his head turning towards me and he was smirking … he was fucking smirking! "I know you wouldn't drink unless you wanted to sleep, you're just like Itachi when it comes to alcohol. I only wanted to hear you whine and beg for my forgiveness."

"I hate it when you do that shit Naruto." I huffed and glared at him angrily.

"Well you deserved it this time, teme." Naruto said, sticking his tongue out at me and I growled as I glared at him harder. God he was such a child sometimes.

"Naruto, stop trying to piss Sasuke off." Gaara sighed as I watched him bring his hands up and rub at his temples. I guess he was starting to get a headache as well.

"Hey, hey, guess what." Naruto said, his usual excitement back and I actually smiled because I missed his cheerfulness.

"What?" I said, realizing he wasn't going to say anything until I said what.

"I leave in the morning!" He said, happily, but I groaned inwardly, knowing that my last night of being Naruto free was tonight. Crap, I forgot to put his shit in his room.

"That's great." I smiled, hoping it wasn't too fake.

"Anyway, I'm starving, can Itachi bring up something for Gaara and me?" Naruto whined a few minutes later when neither of us would say anything.

"I'm not hungry." Gaara said.

"You're eating whether you like it or not!" Naruto snapped.

"Fine." Gaara huffed.

"I'll call Itachi, what would you like guys?" I sighed as I dug into my sweats for my cell phone, waiting for an answer from the red head and the blonde.

"I want something crunchy … like those chicken fingers I had last time!" Naruto said. "And French fries!"

"You need something green, Naruto." Gaara seethed. "I'll take a chicken salad."

"Rabbit." Naruto huffed. "Then get me a side salad, but make sure I get those fries!"

"Alright, I'll be in the hallway." I said, shaking my head with a light chuckle as I got up and dialed Itachi's phone number. I just hoped he was still downstairs in the cafeteria.


	31. Chapter 31 Naruto

_**Chapter 31**_

_**Naruto**_

I can be pissed off all I want at Sasuke. He didn't exactly make the first few days back 'home' comfortable nor exciting. Today was day five after being released from the hospital, and he was trying to help me with my homework … and like I said … he was 'trying'.

"Teme, you're making no fucking sense whatsoever and you fucking know it." I yelled from my wheelchair. God, when Sasuke came push to shove on tutoring me in Algebra … he was the worst teacher ever. Sure, he might be a smart ass and pass with flying colors in the class, but he didn't have a single fucking clue on how to explain anything.

"Well you're thick headed!" Sasuke screamed at me. "Maybe Itachi or Gaara can help you from now on! At least I'm going out of my way to help your sorry ass!"

"Maybe I will ask one of them! Maybe they can explain clearer!" I yelled, removing the brakes on the wheelchair and wheeled myself out of Sasuke's bedroom" and towards the kitchen. I didn't care if moving my wheelchair by myself hurt my back, I was too pissed off.

"Itachi!" I yelled, hoping he was here to help.

"Yes Naruto?" Itachi yawned from the kitchen table and I skidded the wheelchair to a stop since it picked up speed leaving the carpet and falling straight on the polished wood floor in the kitchen area.

"I want you to help me with my damn homework, Sasuke makes it too complicated." I snapped, putting the brakes on, on the chair and crossed my arms angrily as I glared at the eldest brother that looked exhausted in front of me. It made me regret asking him because he honestly looks like he needed to be in bed.

"I can't right now, Naruto." Itachi yawned. "I have my business partner coming in a few minutes to have a meeting with me and I really need you two to be quiet, okay?"

"Alright." I sighed, all my anger gone because I really didn't want to piss him off right now. "How long will the meeting take?"

"About an hour or so, but I honestly don't know." Itachi shrugged, sipping at what I believed was coffee in his mug when there was a knock on the front door.

"I'll go to my room." I sighed and unlocked my wheelchair before wheeling myself to my room, only to find myself frustrated because I couldn't get the chair to turn the way I wanted.

"I hate this stupid ass fucking chair!" I found myself yelling just as I heard a door open, but I didn't care as I reached up and pulled at my hair, growling angrily at myself before I let my hair go and locked the chair. I didn't care if it hurt like fucking hell. I'll walk into my room if I have to.

"Get out of that chair Naruto and I'll strap you down so you can't get up." I heard Itachi say behind me before I found the wheels on my chair unlocked and the chair jerked just slightly before I was finally wheeled into my room. And I felt nothing but embarrassment because he helped me.

"Thank you Itachi." I grumbled, though I was thankful.

"Your welcome Naruto, now call for Sasuke if you need anything." Itachi said and he left my bedroom, closing the door and I was grateful for him to close the door. It gave me an excuse to try and get myself moving before Sasuke came in and made my mood worse.

Locking the chair, once again, I heaved myself up out of my chair and into a standing position and let go of a breath I didn't realize I was holding at all until I heard a knock on my door.

"What?" I snapped.

"May I come in?" A familiar voice asked, and I squinted my eyes as I turned to look at the door. It was familiar, I heard him in one of my classes, but never really talked to him … hell I can't even put a name to him.

Growling, I sat back down in my chair and unlocked it before wheeling towards the door backwards, turning the chair so I could open the door whilst sitting correctly and opened the door, only to be greeted with two sets of eyes, one black; Sasuke's, and the other a pale white, yet I still couldn't put a name to his face yet.

"And who the hell are you?" I asked, my attitude showing because I was still pissed off.

"Goddamn it Naruto, can't you hold your tongue even while Neji's here?" Sasuke hissed as he pushed himself into my room and jumped onto the bed, making himself comfortable which pissed me off more.

"Neji … doesn't sound familiar." I huffed as the pale eyed male now walked into my room and actually looked like a gentleman and sat down in the computer chair I asked Sasuke to bring over from my bedroom across the street.

"Do you know a girl named Hinata?" The pale eyed man asked.

"Yea, I know her … she's too timid and shy around people …" I said, hopefully not trying to be rude as I crossed my arms.

"She's my younger cousin." Pale eyed man said, and I could tell he agreed with my choice of words, but didn't like it either way.

"Oh … OH! Now I know who you are!" I said loudly, now pointing at him with wide eyes. "Your family works with Sasuke's!"

"Bingo!" Sasuke said with a bored tone and a raised fist. "Give the dobe a prize."

"Shut up teme!" I yelled. "I'm still pissed off with you ya know."

"Keep your voice down you fucking moron!" Sasuke hissed as he shot up into a sitting position. Great, I completely forgot that Itachi was in his meeting … I hope I didn't piss him off.

"Well I forgot you fucking jerk." I hissed right back as I glared at him.

"So what's going on between you two?" Neji asked, and I was glad he didn't ask about why I'm in the wheelchair.

"The fucking jerk over there doesn't know how to explain anything to the point it makes sense!" I said. "He can't even simplify algebra for someone like me who hasn't really been in school to hear the lectures!"

"I'm dumbing it down so much that I'm having a hard time saying anything right for you stupid idiot!" Sasuke said, and I felt my blood boil.

"I can help, if you want Naruto." Neji said, and I stared at him, blinking.

"If I can understand how you explain algebra to someone as stupid as I am, then yes, you can help." I said, half hoping I'd be able to understand a single word coming from him, unlike the guy laying on my bed that I want to lay on right now.

"I'll go get it." Sasuke said as he slowly climbed out of the bed and left the room.

"Hey, Naruto, why are you in the wheelchair anyway? Yea, I know you hurt your back and all … but shouldn't you be healed already?" Neji asked the second Sasuke was out of the room and I felt the color drain in my face as I tried to find the words to answer.

"Well … uhm … on one of the vertebrae, a fragment of bone broke off and healed where it stopped and it was pinching my spinal nerve …" I answered, now reaching up and scratching the back of my head nervously. I couldn't bring myself to make eye contact with him.

"Oh … well can you feel anything from your waist down?" Neji asked, and I nodded.

"Yea, but it took a few days to get complete feeling back."

"I bet, remember when Lee hurt his back in that martial arts tournament a couple years ago?" Neji asked, and I had to think back, but I nodded. It wasn't something anybody could forget, it was tragic. Lee was told over and over again that he'd never walk again in his life after that incident by many people, but Tsunade-baa-chan proved them all wrong!

"Yea, he was worse off than I am now." I said. "I'm surprised he kept his spirit up through all that though." I nodded. "But I'm glad he made it through."

"I am too." Neji sighed, and I blinked at him again. If I remembered correctly, Neji was always the one that was with Lee, before and after his injury … and a thought made me smirk, causing Neji to stare at me like I was fucking mental. Hell, maybe I was.

"Why are you smirking like that?" Neji asked, an eyebrow raising and I couldn't help but chuckle like an evil clown.

It took Neji a couple more moments before I watched his whole face and neck turn to a shade of tomato red and his eyes widen. I couldn't help but howl with laughter just as Sasuke walked back into the room with my Algebra homework.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Sasuke asked loudly as he closed the bedroom door. I could feel the daggers boring into me, but I was laughing too hard to care.

"Neji … Lee …" I laughed out, raising a finger from each hand per name and brought them together. I couldn't stop myself from laughing to say any of it. But Sasuke got it quickly, and he burst out laughing like I did.

"It's not funny you two!" Neji howled over the laughter, by that time , I was heaving for air in my parched lungs from lack of air.

"C-Come on N-Neji." I heaved, wiping my tears from my face before wincing in pain. "You know we don't mean it."

"I don't care." Neji hissed, Sasuke's laughter now dying down and now I wished I didn't laugh so hard as my back started feeling like it was on fire.

"Calm down Naruto or you'll have to take some more pain medication, and you're already up to your limit for another two hours." Sasuke said, a little pant in his breathing, but he was calmed down more than me.

"Some ice sounds nice … it feels like it's on fire." I suggested in a heavy breath, my eyes closed so I don't know If Sasuke heard me or not. But when I took a heavy sigh and opened my eyes, he was gone. I guess he heard me.

"So, Naruto … you need help in Algebra?" Neji asked as he rolled the computer chair in my direction. I just now realized he was holding my stuff as I nodded.

"I laughed too hard …" I admitted just as Sasuke walked through the door and put the ice between my back and the chair for me since I wasn't allowed to reach back there just yet. I hoped it was soon because I don't know how much longer I can deal with this bull shit. Frankly, this is all embarrassing!

"So what is it you need help with?" Neji asked, and I completely zoned out as I showed him what I was having trouble with and he tried to explain everything to me.

The only thing I could think of once again … was the fact that Gaara hasn't called, texted or come over to visit me since I got out of the hospital. And I was getting seriously pissed off about it.


	32. Chapter 32 Sasuke

_**Chapter 32**_

_**Sasuke**_

It didn't dawn on me until after Neji left with his uncle that Naruto was acting out of character all day, like something was on his mind and whatever he did he couldn't get rid of it.

To be quite honest, I'm getting this horrible feeling that it's Gaara that's on his mind. I've noticed that Naruto's not talked to him, talk or text, and I truly haven't seen him at school these last few days either and his siblings have avoided me the entire time so I know they're still in town.

Which leads me to now; I'm throwing my shoes on and heading out the door with my wallet and car keys in hand.

"Where are you going Sasuke?" Itachi asked, Naruto was in his room looking for clothes to change into so he could go to bed.

"I'm going for a drive to the library real quick before they close." I told Itachi, which wasn't a complete lie, I was going to the library … it's practically right down the street from the red heads' house so I could easily stop by and pick some random mystery book I want to try and read. So I had no trouble there.

"Okay, be back before long okay? You have school tomorrow." Itachi reminded me as I reached to open the door now that my shoes were on.

"Sure thing nii-san!" I said as I left and went outside, closing the door behind me and rushed over to the car and was in, in a blink of an eye and down the street before I had my seat belt completely buckled.

I didn't really realized how pissed off I was with the red head until I was there within ten minutes when it's usually a twenty or less minute drive depending on how the lights were treating you. So when I had the car parked, I was greeted with Temari who was just getting out of her own car and blinked over at me, with a look of surprise that I'm even here as I got out of my car.

"Oh, Sasuke, what brings you here?" She asked.

"You know full well why I'm fucking here. First, why have you and Kankuro been avoiding me this week at school? And second … where in the hell is your red head brother?" I said, getting straight to the point because I hate small talk.

"Oh, uhm … Well …" She said, I'm guessing trying to find the correct words as she avoided eye contact with me before she sighed heavily. "Well, father has taken Gaara to see Tsunade all week about getting him help for his fever that came back on Monday."

"What!?" I shrieked.

"Yea, he's not been home since, and neither has father. We go visit Gaara and father in the hospital after school, and we're both sorry for not sitting or spending time with you and Naruto. We're just really worried about Gaara that everything else is being blocked out." She admitted, her arms hugging her form as she kept her gaze down towards the ground. I didn't have to question, she was telling the truth.

"And why hasn't Naruto or I been told?" I asked.

"Gaara wants Naruto to get better and not worry about him. None of us can get into Gaara's phone to get a hold of you guys either. And of course while Kankuro and I are at school, we're only thinking of Gaara." She said, and I nodded.

"So you don't want me to tell Naruto about Gaara?" I asked with a heavy sigh, though I kind of knew what her answer would be …

"I don't think so, we're hoping that you'll wait to hear from us about Gaara's condition before you tell him, okay?" Temari said, finally making eye contact with me.

"I'll try, but make sure Naruto finds out before he finds out himself and goes fucking berserk on all of our asses." I sighed.

"Frankly, Naruto's just as fucking scary as Gaara is when he's truly pissed off, so yea, we're going to let Naruto know as soon as we know something." Temari said, and I saw her shudder.

Yea, Naruto's known to go completely berserk when he's truly upset. Last time he lost complete control of his temper was when we were in middle school and some kids really got on his nerves for the last time … all of them were sent to the hospital unconscious but were sent home later that night with minor injuries and a broken bone somewhere. Naruto wasn't charged either, there was evidence that he was defending himself because he was in plain view of the school's security camera. He was very fortunate for that too.

"Yea, I remember when I last saw his temper in person … he looked like a rabid animal." I said, shuddering as I remembered the look in his eyes; completely void of all emotion. And that's something that didn't suit him at all.

"You said it. Now, I have dinner to get on for Kankuro and myself. Him and I just got back from visiting Gaara and father." She told me and I nodded, half glad that I didn't have to go inside for some reason.

"Yea, tell Kankuro I said hello, and I really hope Gaara gets better soon … very soon." I said as I waved and she started towards the house, half turned to me as she waved back.

"Will do Sasuke, take care of Naruto also!" She smiled before she went inside and closed the door behind her.

I should be pissed, but they were right; Naruto would worry over this so much he would completely ignore his own health and wouldn't get any better. So them not telling Naruto was somewhat a good thing.

Sighing, I climbed back into my car and turned the engine on, sitting there for a moment before I buckled up before backing out of the driveway and drove off towards the library to get a book like Itachi thinks I am. I just hoped I had enough time to actually look for something good.

"Hey, where the fuck did you go?" Naruto squealed as I walked into the house with five books in my arm as I closed the door behind me and threw my shoes off. I scoffed at him because he's such a dobe, but I told him anyway.

"I went to the library, you moron." I said before I walked off to my bedroom. Apparently Itachi helped Naruto get his bath and change … and Naruto looked livid.

"Why didn't you fucking tell me you were leaving!?" He yelled at me as I walked by out of his reach so he couldn't touch me as I went to my room to put the books on my computer desk. I picked up this one book called Plea of Insanity, technically, it was one of the books the library was selling for a dollar, so I bought it along with three other mystery novels and decided to give them a read. If I didn't like them, I'll go to half price book store and sell them there … or trade.

"Because I had to hurry if I wanted to get there and look for something interesting before they closed." I told him as I came back from my room with the said book and threw myself into the recliner and started reading.

"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard." Naruto huffed as he crossed his arms, though I could tell he wasn't totally pissed off with me, he looked too exhausted to be completely pissed.

"Why aren't you in bed yet?"

"I'm waiting another half hour so I can take some pain medication before going to bed." He answered, and I nodded. To be honest, I didn't think I was gone over an hour. But I always lose myself in the library, so it's possible.

"Hey, little brother, may I talk to you in my office for a quick moment?" Itachi asked me as I saw him walk out of the kitchen with a bottle of soda in hand and gave it to Naruto, who looked slightly happier and opened it before sipping at it while watching whatever he was watching on television.

"Sure, be there in a second." I nodded, marking the first chapter so I wouldn't have to look for it later and heaved my tired, heavy body off the recliner, stretching and yawning a bit before I walked past Naruto once again and followed Itachi into his study.

"Close the door and try to keep everything in a whisper." Itachi said, and I closed the door quietly so Naruto wouldn't notice and sat down on the chair beside his desk. "Now, I just got a call from Tsunade, she said Gaara's back in the hospital."

"Yea, I went and stopped by his house on the way to the library and Temari said the same thing, his fever came back Monday." I nodded, my voice almost lower than a whisper.

"I'm hoping that they call Naruto here soon, Tsunade says that it's due to the fact that he's stressing himself more than he should and him having insomnia isn't helping at all. She's having him sleep until the end of the week." Itachi told me.

"Good, he really needs the sleep." I nodded. "And to let you know, Naruto's been weird all day … I think he's already noticed that Gaara hasn't talked to him all week and it might be getting to him."

"Yea, I noticed that too." Itachi sighed. "I saw him trying to get a knife from the kitchen … I think his depression is hitting him in the gut again too."

"You tell Tsunade about that?"

"Yea, she says to keep an eye on him, but I think it's passed for today. She also mentioned about seeing to get him a counselor or a therapist to talk to, but I told her that Naruto might not like that. So she's coming over tomorrow after seeing how Gaara's doing and talk to him about his options." He said, and I was wide eyed and holding my breath. Honestly I thought that he stopped cutting a long while ago.

"I think we should make our talk short …" Itachi whispered just before I heard a knock on the door. I immediately started praying that Naruto didn't hear anything we just said. But knowing the dobe, he probably heard something.

"Itachi, I'm ready for bed." Naruto said through the door.

Now it was my turn to look at Itachi, confused.

"He must be really pissed off at you." Itachi chuckled under his breath as he stood to his feet, our conversation obviously over and I sighed heavily.

"Sasuke, after school you're taking me to Gaara's place … I have a couple words to tell that jerk before I don't feel like it." Naruto said a moment later, and I inwardly sighed, he heard _nothing_ that we said.

"I'd take your time bringing him over." Itachi whispered so low I don't think I heard him right, but I couldn't ask him to repeat because he came out around his desk and opened the door, grabbing Naruto's chair and wheeled him backwards towards the guest room and I sighed heavily before going back to my own room.

"I'm going to bed guys." I called out before I closed my door and jumped into my bed, not bothering to change because I was too tired to anyway.

"Naruto says good night." Itachi said through my door.

"Good night Naruto! Itachi!" I called out loud enough for the whole house to hear before I took my glasses off and put them on my bedside table and turned my lamp off. I had planned on reading more, but upon landing on my bed, I didn't realize how exhausted I was.


	33. Chapter 33 Naruto

Author's Note; Heeeeey guys, sorry for the late update. I was away from internet until yesterday and I was too exhausted to update. So, here you go, another triple update :D We're just over twenty chapters away from the end of the story!

_**Chapter 33**_

_**Naruto**_

I couldn't believe how slow the day went by since Sasuke left. I guess it's because I didn't get any form of sleep last night because all I could think about was what I'm going to bitch at Gaara about; One for ignoring my calls and text messages, and two, not stopping over at all.

I decided by the time I heard Sasuke's alarm going off that I'm going to bitch at Gaara about both. And right now, it was only noon and I felt like ripping my hair out of my scalp from impatience.

"Naruto, calm down or I'm not letting you go over at all." Itachi sighed from the kitchen. I guess he could hear me getting frustrated over what time it was.

"Whatever, I'm going to go take a nap." I huffed and wheeled from the living room back to my bedroom and parked the chair by the bed before heaving myself into the bed myself just as Itachi walked into the room. But the glare coming from him meant that he didn't like how I didn't wait for him, once again this week.

"You really want me to call Tsunade and tell her you're doing everything against what she said you can do?" He threatened.

"Go right ahead, not like I care right now anyway." I said, reaching behind me for the covers and pulled them over myself, shivering because the room was cold. "And is the AC on too low? This room feels like a freezer."

"I'll check up on it in a moment, the phone is ringing, okay?" Itachi said, and I could hear the office phone ringing because the door was open, and I really wanted to hear who called, but I knew I'd get my rear end blasted if I did, so I just stayed where I was, laying in the bed and stared at my picture of my mother and her parents.

Right now, I wondered where my grandparents were. What they could be doing. I haven't heard from them in a few years, I think at most ten years. My first and last present from them was this photo. But I knew deep down that if Dad knew I had this picture, he'd take it from me, beat me over the head with something and tear it apart in front of my face and set it on fire. That's how he is … he did that with my last birthday present I got from Sakura, who went and got me a new sweater last year because I was always walking to school in long sleeved shirts in the winter and didn't have a coat to keep warm.

I was forever grateful for her when she got it for me, but after a week, Dad found it and tied me to a chair while he set it on fire … with me wearing it, saying that I'm a good for nothing slut who had sex to get it when in fact I hadn't. She asked many times where the sweater was after that, but after two weeks of her asking and me answering; I'm letting my father borrow it until he gets himself a coat, she dropped it.

Now-a-days, I refuse any and all birthday presents unless they were small and could be hidden in my secret spot underneath my closet, so far, none of them were small enough so I refused to accept anything. That was, until Gaara gave me my most prized gift other than the picture, that necklace I now refuse to take off my persona. Hell, he'd have a fucking cow if he learned that my house was ransacked and I almost lost it.

I lied, the sweater from Sakura wasn't the last one I got, it was a really big book that contained all of Edgar Allan Poe's work; short stories, poems, prose, everything he wrote. It was a gift from Tsunade-baa-chan a year before I got into high school. Dad had managed to strap me to another chair in the house, tied the book to my chest and lit that on fire with an accelerant. I thought I was truly going to die then, but for some reason, he took the burning book off of me before I got too seriously burned and put it in the sink with running water. But he left me in that chair screaming in pain and shock that he did such a thing to me that I didn't realize that the burns could be seen even if I wore a shirt. I didn't know that until the next day when Gai-sensei sent me to the nurses' office to get it looked at because my right shoulder was burned enough that anything I wore that wasn't a short sleeved shirt and a scarf together would be seen.

Of course, I never went to the nurse, I skipped class and hid in the locker room until the bell rang, signaling the end of the day and I ran home and locked myself in my bedroom.

"Hey, Naruto, are you okay?" Itachi asked, his voice startling me because I didn't even know he came back, hell, he was standing right in my line of sight, on his knees so he could be at eye level with me and he looked worried.

"I'm fine, why?"

"Because you're crying and I was kneeling here for the last five minutes trying to get your attention, and it was like you couldn't even hear me." He said.

Me … crying? I asked myself before I unconsciously reached up and touched my face, feeling that it was indeed wet with tears. I bit my bottom lip hard out of frustration that I let my emotions get like this again without me knowing. I felt like such a fucking loser.

"Do you want me to call Tsunade and have her come over?" Itachi asked, and I shook my head no.

"Only if she comes with Ibiki." I said, and I wished I had stopped myself from saying anything but now it was too late.

"It'll be two hours before she can come over if you want him to come too." Itachi said, trying to get me to understand it might be a while.

"I know … but if I talk to anyone, it's going to be Ibiki …" I sighed, now breaking eye contact with Itachi and wished that someone would just shoot me now.

"I'll go call her, want some pain medication? It's time you can have another dose." Itachi said, smiling a small smile and I nodded. The meds might not be for the pain right now, but it does help me sleep.

"Okay, I'll be right back." He nodded, standing up and leaving the bedroom and I sighed a shaky breath, pulling the blanket tighter around me as I shivered again. I could swear, this room felt like a fucking freezer.

"Hey, Naruto, Tsunade and Ibiki are here." I heard Itachi's voice say quietly as I felt my shoulder being shaken.

I grunted and rolled over onto my other side, honestly, I didn't want to be bothered and I was finally warm under the blanket in this cursed room and I curled into a ball until I felt someone shake my shoulder gently again.

"Naruto, you wanted them to come over, and it's after three, you need to get up." Itachi said, and I yawned, swatting his hand away as I rolled back over with half lidded eyes. My eyes getting slightly wet for some reason so I forced myself to sit up and I rubbed at my eyes furiously to get the sleep out of them.

"It's what time?" I yawned and stretched a little bit.

"It's a few minutes after three. Tsunade wanted to do a round at the hospital before stopping over." Itachi said as I put my arms in front of me, a signal we all agreed to when I wanted help in and out of my chair, and Itachi lifted my tired and barely awake body off the bed and into the chair.

"I slept longer than I planned." I yawned once more as Itachi wheeled me out to the living room, then it dawned on me that I hadn't heard anything about or from Sasuke since I woke up.

"Where's Sasuke?" I asked.

"He's at the library doing his homework." Itachi answered, and I scoffed. The ass never wanted to do his homework at the library before.

"Good afternoon Naruto." Tsunade's voice said once Itachi and I were in the living room a few seconds later, and my eyes only fell on Ibiki, who sat next to the television with his arms crossed and a scary look upon his face that made my whole body quiver. Then question why I wanted him over in the first place.

Wait … I don't even remember why I wanted him over anyway.

"You guys might find this extremely stupid and a waste of time … but I honestly don't remember why I wanted you two over in the first place." I told them after Itachi locked my chair, with a nervous laugh as I scratched the back of my head, hoping they wouldn't be too pissed off.

"Don't worry, Itachi has an idea why you wanted to see us and told us before he went to wake you up." Tsunade smiled, and I bit my lip again.

"Naruto, I know you don't like others worrying over you, but a very good source is saying that they're afraid you're hurting yourself again, Naruto." Ibiki said, and I knew he was trying his damnedest not to say any names, but it isn't hard to find out who his source is.

"I'm always around Itachi …" I grumbled. "So what other source is there?"

"Okay, Naruto, you got us there, but he isn't the only one, Sasuke came to school this morning saying he's worried about you too." Tsunade said as she took a step forward, taking a seat in the kitchen chair that I didn't even know was there.

"Whatever." I snapped when I didn't hear about Gaara.

"And Naruto, Sasuke knows you're upset over Gaara … but … I can explain why you haven't heard from him this week." Tsunade said, and I stiffened when she said Gaara's name, but I stared at her when she said she knew why he was ignoring me all week.

"Spill it baa-chan!" I almost yelled, but I was surprisingly calm. And I was half expecting her to tell me that Gaara and his folks moved back to his home town in his fathers' last ditch effort to get him away from me.

"Gaara had to go back to the hospital Monday, his fever came back even worse than before and I've had him under all week. The fever keeps coming and going and I'm starting to think that all this worrying, stress and his insomnia is making him really ill." Tsunade explained, and I stared at her wide eyed, I didn't even have to blink to know that there were tears falling.

"No one could get in Gaara's phone to call you guys and I've been too busy to look your number up for Kankuro and Temari." Tsunade sighed. "Sasuke just found out last night about it all since he stopped by last night."

"He did what?" I yelled, the sadness all gone and now there was nothing but anger upon my features, and now I was ready to tear the stupid teme in fucking half.

"He wanted to talk to me first, Naruto, he was going to tell you last night but you wanted to go to bed and you were also giving him the cold shoulder." Itachi said, and he was absolutely right.

"I had my reasons for giving the asshole a cold shoulder." I huffed as I crossed my arms. "The teme doesn't know how to explain Algebra and I'm probably going to fail because of him."

"You're being childish, Naruto." Itachi sighed and sat on the couch that was kind of behind my chair.

"I don't care, as long as Neji comes back over and helps me, I'll be happy." I admitted

"That can be arranged." Itachi said, and when I looked over at him, he was smirking.

"As long as it's free tutoring!" I argued.

"Naruto, I also heard your home was broken into … was there anything of personal value stolen?" Tsunade asked, and I wished she hadn't. Because I wanted to forget about it.

"No, just my laptop that I know of, and some money I was saving up from when I was working." I said truthfully, looking down at my hands and picked at my thumb nails a bit.

"That's good." Tsunade sighed heavily with relief.

"Naruto, is there any particular reason you wanted to talk to me?" Ibiki asked, and I had thought about him asking that sort of question, and I've been trying to come up with a good answer, and the only thing I could think of was … telling him about what my father did to me. Only because I feel like the longer that it's locked up inside me the more I feel like I'm falling apart.

"Yea … and Tsunade … you promise my Dad won't be taken from me?" I nodded, now looking at Tsunade, almost glaring, until she gave me an answer I wanted.

"Yes, I promise, because like I said … I'm making it your choice if you want him gone." She nodded.

"Good, now promise me you won't go on a rampage … We're staying out here and I'm talking with all of you in the room …" I told her.

"I promise I won't go on a rampage, but I won't promise stuff might not be broken by the time we're done here." She shrugged.

"As long as the television isn't touched … or anything glass, I don't care." Itachi said, both his hands were up when I looked over at him. And I could tell he didn't like the idea, but he was going to go through with it.

I sighed heavily, honestly, I don't know why I'm talking to this group of people …

"Hey, Ibiki-sensei …" I said after a moment of silence.

"Yes Naruto?" Ibiki said, I guess he was ready for me to start talking because when I looked up at him, he had the recorder ready.

"Tell anyone … I'll never speak to any of you again." I told him, hopefully a glare that was as strong and hopefully stronger than Gaara's glares of promising death.

"I wouldn't tell a fly, Naruto." Ibiki promised, though he seemed unfazed by my glare, but I could see Itachi shift uneasily in his seat, along with Tsunade. Guess it had some effect …

I sighed once more and looked over at Ibiki, who took that as a sign that we were going to get started and the red light on the recorder turned on.


	34. Chapter 34 Sasuke

_**Chapter 34**_

_**Sasuke**_

I know I told Itachi this morning to tell Naruto that I was going to the library after school to work on homework with Temari and Kankuro … but I didn't think I'd actually be doing it after visiting Gaara in the hospital. I know I promised the two siblings that I wouldn't tell Naruto how Gaara was doing or that he was even in the hospital, but I'm telling him when I get home.

"Hey, Sasuke, it's after six and the library closes in two hours. Wanna stay until then or go home now?" Temari whispered over to me, the table the three of us were occupying was littered and completely covered with our homework, and my laptop. And I sighed heavily as I looked at the time on my laptop. It was going on six-thirty … Itachi might have left hundreds of messages on my phone asking where the fuck I am now.

"Yea, lets call it a night, meet back over tomorrow?" I asked. This was, after all, the best way for me to get less Naruto and more time for myself to get my grades back up since they slipped slightly.

"Sure." Kankuro said as he started picking up his stuff.

"Wanna car pool tomorrow?" Temari asked. "My car sounds like it's needing some work here soon."

"Sure, I'll come pick you guys up on the way to school." I offered, and she looked grateful.

"Thanks Sasuke." Temari smiled, already finished up picking her things up and all I had to pick up was the laptop. I had my stuff put away half an hour ago since I'm doing research for our next Psychology project, mine just had to be domestic abuse and how it changes the mind towards the one that's abused. Stupid really, but I took the project so it'd help me know how Naruto thinks better … I guess.

"See you tomorrow Sasuke." Temari said as she waved.

"Bye Sasuke." Kankuro said just before he walked out of the library before Temari did, and I waved back before I sighed heavily and packed up my stuff before pulling my cell phone out, ready to call home and get my ear chewed out. But when I looked at my phone, I didn't have a single message or missed call.

I shrugged at the rare opportunity and got up, browsing through the mystery shelves again and found another interesting title. I grabbed it and checked it out before I went outside to my car and hopped in. I wanted to call home, but I figured not and buckled up before I started the car and drove home.

"I'm home." I said as I opened the front door, wondering who's cars were outside and stopped in my tracks as soon as I closed the door … and saw Tsunade and Ibiki. Apparently, I seem to have come home at the worst time possible … because Tsunade looked like she was ready to rip someone in half.

"Get to your room now!" Tsunade yelled, and I saw Itachi sitting on the couch talking to Naruto who looked like he was having a nervous break down.

I didn't ask any questions and rushed off to my room. When I had the door closed, I tossed my bag onto my bed before I threw myself onto it and laid there on my stomach, thinking about what I just witnessed in the living room.

Naruto having a nervous break down … Ibiki here and Tsunade here … Naruto must have wanted to talk to Ibiki about some things and let the others stay in the room.

"Hey, Sasuke, may I come in?" Itachi's voice said through my door and I grunted just before he opened the door, hearing it close before I felt my bed shift a little bit.

"You wondering why Ibiki and Tsunade are here?" Itachi asked.

"Of course, but I think I got it figured out." I said, moving my head towards his direction so he could understand me.

"Yea, Naruto wanted to talk to them …" He sighed.

"And I guess I'll find out whenever he wants me to?" I asked, now rolling onto my back and heaving myself up into a sitting position next to him and scratched the back of my neck.

"I think so." Itachi said as he put a hand on my shoulder. "But know this … he needs you more than ever, you and all of his friends."

"It was that bad?" I asked, now looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You, have no idea, Sasuke." Itachi said, and that's when I realized how exhausted he sounded, plus a little bit of sadness and extreme worry. "And, since we haven't had dinner yet, how about something out? I'm too tired to cook."

"That sounds nice, and I'll let Naruto chose." I shrugged, laying back down on my bed and putting my hands behind my head as I closed my eyes.

"I'll let him know, and if you hear Tsunade yelling at the top of her lungs, try your best to ignore it, okay?" Itachi said as he got up off my bed. I grunted my answer before I heard him open my bedroom door and close it as he left.

To make sure I wouldn't hear Tsunade, I reached into my back pack and grabbed my iPod and head phones. The only way to drown out her loud mouth was listening to scream music and Asking Alexandria was the best way to go.

"Hey, Sasuke, wake up." I heard as someone shook my leg.

I groaned angrily and tried to kick them away as I rolled over, only to find that I was falling out of bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud and my iPod falling onto my face and I sat up faster than I wanted because my head started to spin.

"Where's the fucking fire?" I mumbled as I rubbed at my eyes and slowly got back onto my bed.

"It's after eight, I tried to wake you up an hour ago when our food arrived, but you were too out of it and I turned your iPod off then too because you had it too loud." Itachi sighed as he stood by my bed.

"I don't remember falling asleep though." I yawned and stretched before I stood up, stumbling because I hadn't regained my balance quite yet.

"I'm guessing school is starting to get to you, and I know your project with Ibiki is draining you mentally." Itachi said.

"It is, I have this stupid ass project that's pissing me off." I admitted, but I'll never tell him what the project is. Not in a million years.

"And Naruto's in bed, just thought I'd let you know. And there's a couple things I want to talk to you in the kitchen when you come out." He said, and walked out before I could say anything back.

I grumbled before shuffling out of my room and down the hall and into the kitchen where I saw Itachi digging into the fridge for something.

"We had pizza, and Naruto was very adamant about getting a vegetarian pizza for you since you don't like pepperoni or anything of that sort." Itachi said, pulling a small pizza out of the fridge and handing it over to me along with a couple cans of soda.

"Thanks." I said, taking the items from him and pulling a plate from the cabinet and put the whole pizza on it and shoved it into the microwave for two minutes before sitting down at the table. Opening up my soda and sipped at it.

I was dying to know what Itachi wanted to talk to me about.

"Sasuke … Naruto's being prescribed anti-depressants." Itachi said, out of the blue, and all I could do was stare up at him, shocked.

"When was this established?" I asked.

"While you were sleeping." He answered.

"Of course." I sighed just when the time was up on the microwave and it buzzed endlessly until Itachi opened it and handed me my plate for me. "Thanks."

"Tsunade is stopping by in the morning, to give it to him. I don't know what it is she's prescribing him, though it's probably Prozac." Itachi said. "And don't bother telling Naruto about Gaara …"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. I was about to take a bite of my pizza when I stared up at him.

"She told him when they got here." He answered. "Naruto was complaining about how he was going to bitch Gaara out and she felt like she should tell him."

"Did he take it well?" I asked after eating a few bites of my dinner.

"Better than I thought he would, we went straight into the counseling session before we really got to understand how it affected him." Itachi said as he sat down across from me.

"Has he hurt himself at all?"

"He has two cuts, but they look like they're accidental. Tsunade doesn't want to take any chances either and wants us to make sure we have him under constant surveillance." He said. "I also found one of our steak knives under his pillow when he was taking his bath last night. He hasn't said anything, but he was avoiding me most of the day so he knows that I found it."

"How can we make sure he doesn't take anything into his room or when he goes and takes his bath?" I asked after a few minutes of silence so I could get some more food in my seemingly empty stomach.

"We'll just have to make sure we have everything where it's supposed to be before we leave him alone." Itachi sighed. He was right, of course.

"Or we could just body search him." I suggested with high sarcasm as I took another bite of pizza.

"That will just piss him off even more."

"I know, but that's the best thing I can come up with right now." I said, now pushing my pizza away half eaten since I officially lost the rest of my appetite.

"Well I can say I hate you all, but then that'd be selfish of me." Naruto's voice rang into the kitchen, startling both of us and I whipped myself around to see Naruto dressed with shoes on and everything sitting in his wheelchair and acting like he's going somewhere.

"And where are you going?" I asked, trying my damnedest not to sound pissed off when I actually am.

"I want to get out of the house … and I can't sleep." Naruto said, and I could tell he was frustrated with himself.

"How about some ice cream?" I asked, though I hated the stuff myself.

"I just want to go around outside." Naruto said, shaking his head, and I knew then that something was up with the blonde tonight. He never refuses to get anything sweet. "In actuality, I would love to go and visit Gaara, but I know that neither of you are fit to drive because you're both exhausted."

"I'll take you to visit Gaara in the morning. And I can give you some pain medication to help you sleep, Naruto." Itachi offered.

"I wanna go out for a bit …" Naruto said, shaking his head a little bit. "I'll be out back for a while." And he wheeled himself through the kitchen towards the back door, opened it and wheeled himself outside and closed the door.

"Should he be alone?" I asked Itachi.

"Maybe, but he needs to come inside in no longer than an hour. I'll stay up, you have school tomorrow." Itachi sighed, now shooing me out of the kitchen as he put my food away for me.

"Good night Itachi." I sighed as I got up and stretched.

"Night Sasuke." Itachi told me with a smile and he went outside. So much with leaving him alone for an hour.


	35. Chapter 35 Naruto

_**Chapter 35**_

_**Naruto**_

I was surprised when Sasuke got home late, but I had just got done telling everyone, besides Sasuke, the last thing my father did to me that was worth forgetting, but no matter what I could do, I couldn't forget; another incident where my father tied me to a chair with a dark pillow case over my head so I wouldn't see him and stabbed me in the shoulders and legs, leaving me to bleed to death until I felt him stitch me up with something and let me go. This was last year on my birthday. And I never put the pieces together until now; Dad was worst when it was my birthday.

And now that Ibiki and Tsunade left about two hours ago, I had the honor to hear that I'm having anti-depressants shoved down my throat twice a day starting tomorrow. Ibiki had commented saying that I should turn my father in, but I refused for some odd reason and he promised to keep everything said to himself and Tsunade and the two left.

To be honest, the house was so quiet that I could hear Itachi and Sasuke talk in his room. And that's usually rare, because this house is rarely ever quiet unless you're the only one up. But the fact that Sasuke was being woken up when he hadn't ate dinner yet meant that they were going to be up a little while longer.

I sighed, wishing I had a quiet place to think, I heaved myself up and got myself up and walking around, grabbing the clothes I just changed out of and changed back into them. Save for the shirt, I just grabbed a sweater from the closet and threw it on and limped over to the wheelchair before climbing into it and shoved my sockless feet into my slippers and wheeled out of the room quietly. I was going to wheel straight into the kitchen, but when I heard them talking, I decided to wait and hear what it was about.

"Sasuke … Naruto's being prescribed anti-depressants." Itachi said, out of the blue, and all I wanted to rip his vocal chords out. Why can't he just let me tell Sasuke what's going on?

"When was this established?" Sasuke asked, and I could tell by the tone in his voice, he was shocked.

"While you were sleeping." He answered.

"Of course." Sasuke sighed, just when the time was up on the microwave and it buzzed endlessly until someone opened it, and I guessed that it was Itachi because Sasuke thanked him.

"Tsunade is stopping by in the morning, to give it to him. I don't know what it is she's prescribing him, though it's probably Prozac." Itachi said. "And don't bother telling Naruto about Gaara …"

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke asked

"She told him when they got here." He answered. "Naruto was complaining about how he was going to bitch Gaara out and she felt like she should tell him."

"Did he take it well?" Sasuke asked a few moments later.

"Better than I thought he would, we went straight into the counseling session before we really got to understand how it affected him." Itachi said as I heard a chair move, telling me Itachi's now sitting down.

"Has he hurt himself at all?"

"He has two cuts, but they look like they're accidental. Tsunade doesn't want to take any chances either and wants us to make sure we have him under constant surveillance." He said. "I also found one of our steak knives under his pillow when he was taking his bath last night. He hasn't said anything, but he was avoiding me most of the day so he knows that I found it."

Like hell they were fucking accidental. Guess I fooled the great Itachi Uchiha.

"How can we make sure he doesn't take anything into his room or when he goes and takes his bath?" Sasuke asked after a few minutes of silence.

"We'll just have to make sure we have everything where it's supposed to be before we leave him alone." Itachi sighed. He was right, of course.

"Or we could just body search him." Sasuke suggested with high sarcasm and now I wanted to rip him in half, fucking teme.

"That will just piss him off even more."

Got that right Itachi.

"I know, but that's the best thing I can come up with right now." Sasuke said, a scraping sound like a plate being moved. Guess he's done eating, time to make my entrance I guess.

"Well I can say I hate you all, but then that'd be selfish of me." My voice rang into the kitchen, startling both of them and I watched Sasuke whip himself around to stare at me, and he looked like he lost some nonexistent color from his face.

"And where are you going?" He asked, and he sounded pissed off.

"I want to get out of the house … and I can't sleep." I said.

"How about some ice cream?" Sasuke offered.

"I just want to go around outside." I said, shaking my head a little bit. "In actuality, I would love to go and visit Gaara, but I know that neither of you are fit to drive because you're both exhausted."

"I'll take you to visit Gaara in the morning. And I can give you some pain medication to help you sleep, Naruto." Itachi offered.

"I wanna go out for a bit …" I sighed. "I'll be out back for a while." And I wheeled myself through the kitchen towards the back door, opened it and wheeled myself outside and closed the door. I welcomed the cool autumn air around me as I wheeled to the edge of the back porch and locked the chair.

Normally, I wouldn't want to be outside where it was cold, but I was oddly numb to it today. I could honestly care less as to the reasons why, but it helped me calm down from earlier better than the short bath I had. I had one hell of a time convincing Itachi that I hadn't cut myself on my left arm, saying that I nicked myself while shaving … That was one hell of a fucking lie, though he bought it after I convinced him that's why my arms were always hair free.

I jumped slightly when I heard the back door open up again and close. But I knew it was either Sasuke or Itachi and when a chair was pulled up next to me, I saw Itachi take a seat next to me. I knew I might get a lecture for being out here with this cold weather and nothing stronger than the sweats and sweater I was wearing, but Itachi remained quiet. I was glad for that.

"Do you think I'm doing anything right, Itachi?" I asked a few minutes later, getting the question off of my chest since I've been wanting to ask him this for a long while now.

"Everyone's different when they come to situations like this, Naruto. If it were me, I would have told off my father a long time ago because I would want to protect my little brother." Itachi said, and he was absolutely right.

"But I don't have anyone else …" I whined.

"Well that may be true, you can give your father a second chance. Like I've always said, Naruto, it's all up to you whether you can stay by your fathers' side or give him some more help."

"You speak in riddles." I huffed, trying to pout as I crossed my arms, but I think he realized I crossed my arms to try and get myself warmer. Damn it.

"I think we should go inside." Itachi said a moment later. "You look like you could use some hot chocolate."

I couldn't help but drool when Itachi mentioned hot chocolate. He was the only one that could make home made hot chocolate from scratch and it actually taste good!

"With lots of marshmallow fluff?" I asked, my voice high with excitement as I looked at him with puppy eyes.

"As much as you want." Itachi smiled as he got up and put the chair back before I unlocked my chair and he wheeled me back in the house. I would have jumped with joy, but I'm not allowed just yet. So I sufficed with a raise of both fists all the while trying to keep myself from yelling with glee.

"I don't know how Gaara puts up with your random mood swings, Naruto." Itachi laughed, and I knew he meant it to be a funny, but my heart took it as an insult.

"You know how to take a complement and make it sound like an insult." I mumbled, crossing my arms when he pushed my chair towards the empty space at the table and locked the wheels before he got to work on making the two of us some hot chocolate.

"Sasuke says the same thing." Itachi said, and I knew he was right. I've been around these two long enough to know that's exactly what happens, and why Sasuke sometimes can't stand his brother. "Okay, we have two choices … dark chocolate or white chocolate?"

"White … chocolate?" I asked, drooling again as I turned my head to look at Itachi who was standing at the cabinet with the two boxes. Apparently he got my answer as he put the dark chocolate away and got started making white hot chocolate.

"Wait, why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes as I looked at him.

"When was the last time you had hot chocolate?" Itachi asked, his back to me while he worked at the stove.

"A very long time." I answered, when truth was, I hadn't had any in about a month.

"It's nice to treat yourself with hot chocolate when it's cold outside once in a while." Itachi said, and then something finally dawned on me …

"Oh my God!" I yelled. "Itachi, what day is it?"

"It's October seventh, if I remember correctly." Itachi answered.

"Shit!" I hissed under my breath as I panicked and started biting my right thumb as I hugged myself with my left arm. Honestly, I don't know what I should be worried about, my father is locked up in rehab for his alcohol addiction for another three weeks. I'm good to go until he comes out.

"Is something the matter Naruto?" Itachi asked, now sitting next to me and placing a steaming mug of white hot chocolate in front of me and I didn't even see him until he said something.

"I'm … fine. Yea, I'm fine." I said as I nodded and picked up my mug, ignoring the pain in my hands from how hot the mug was and gently sipped at my drink. Being careful not to burn myself like I did last time.

"Did you forget something?" Itachi asked, and I felt like he was interrogating me.

"No … I thought it was like, November or something." I laughed lightly after I've had a few sips and set the mug down before I rubbed the palms of my hands together. Another nervous habit I grew accustomed to.

"Now, Naruto, tell me what's so important about the date." Itachi said, and I knew he called my bluff.

"My birthday is in three days." I huffed as I turned my head, refusing to make eye contact as I bit down on my thumb again.

"Well that's nothing to be upset or nervous about." Itachi said, and he sounded relieved that it wasn't nothing too serious, or so he thinks.

"Itachi … think back on what we talked about for four hours with Ibiki and Tsunade …" I sighed, hoping he'd put the pieces together without me saying anything. "I've told you about eight incidents where they were the worst between me and my father and they've been that bad since I turned seven. Put the pieces together yourself." I added and picked up my mug of hot chocolate, gulping at it, not caring if my tongue and throat burned a little bit.

"You're saying that's what happened on your birthday?" Itachi asked a few seconds later. God I hated the genius minds of the damned Uchiha.

"Yes, Itachi." I hissed, now wishing I never asked what day it was.

"Well, this year Naruto, you won't have to worry about it being like that anymore." Itachi said as he put a hand on my shoulder, finally looking at him and when he brought his hand up to my face and rubbed a thumb under my left eye, I didn't know I was crying until then. "It won't happen anymore, I promise, and so does Sasuke, Gaara and his siblings, and all of your friends."

"But only you guys, Gaara and Shikamaru know what's been going on." I cried quietly, putting my mug down before I dropped it. "Well, Gaara doesn't know the full extent of my problems."

"They don't have to know to be your friends, now do they Naruto?" Itachi asked me, now both of his hands on the side of my face trying to dry the tears that fell from my eyes.

I sniffed, "I'm envious of Sasuke."

"And why's that?" Itachi laughed lightly.

"Because he has you for a big brother." I said.

"Well, I can be your big brother too, now can't I?" Itachi asked.

"You really mean it?" I asked, the tears welling up in my eyes even more as I looked at him, my hopes high.

When Itachi smiled, he didn't have to say anything as I grabbed him by his shoulders and quickly pulled him into a hug where my face was buried in his chest and I couldn't keep myself from crying. I felt like I did when I got my first birthday present from my grandparents, and I rarely feel like this.

"Well, lets get to bed, okay Naruto?" Itachi asked after what felt like forever being in this position, and it was starting to put a slight strain on my back, so I let Itachi go and dried my face that was already dry, somewhat, and I nodded to him.

He got up and went into the one of the cupboards and grabbed a prescription bottle that looked like it had my name on it, so I guessed it was my pain medicine and I took it when he handed me the pill with the last of my hot chocolate and I set it on the table before he wheeled me back to my bedroom and helped me into bed.

Itachi may be great and all, but I honestly wished that tomorrow was over already.


	36. Chapter 36 Sasuke

Author's Note; Sorry for this being a couple hours late, I was busy with some things. Okay, here's the next triple update! I hope everyone likes it. Review please if you want. They're critical at this stage since I'm officially under 20 chapters away from the end of this book as of chapter 38. And to let you know ahead of time, though I will remind everyone in my last update, that I will post book 2 when it's finished, and I'm hoping that's within the next month or two. I'm getting past a quarter of the way right now and I have a very long way to go with it.

Sasuke; You've been procrastinating with it ever since you started it.

Naruto; Yea, and you're even more evil in that book!

Me; Shut up! -covers both of their mouths up and makes sure she has hands like Deidara to make sure they stay shut up-

Sasuke and Naruto; -gags and chokes-

Itachi; That's mean sis -chuckles- Deidara is even here to help you.

Deidara; Yessss, un. Maybe I can make them explode! Un!

Sasuke and Naruto; -ran away-

Me; Thank's Ita-nii, Deidei! :)

Itachi and Deidara; Your welcome ... UN!

_**Chapter 36**_

_**Sasuke**_

The sound of my alarm going off every morning at six is actually starting to piss me off. Naruto's rubbing off on me … I'm usually glad to be up in the morning, now I loathe it completely. At least until it's eight in the morning and I'm grateful that I'm awake.

Naruto, on the other hand, can sleep for twenty four hours if you don't wake him up. And I'm not over exaggerating either, but it is hilarious.

"Hey, Sasuke, wake up! I'm going to visit Gaara today!" Naruto yelled through the door, and now my 'blissful morning' was ruined with his annoying voice.

"Hold your goddamn horse, Naruto, visiting hours aren't for another two hours!" I groaned and rolled over onto my other side and sandwiched my head between my two pillows. For once, I got my bedroom too hot in the middle of a chilling autumn night and kicked my blankets off the bed and slept in nothing but my flannel night pants. The tank top I went to bed in was sticking to my skin and pissed me off so I threw it off around one last night. I guess I shouldn't have gone and made myself some hot chocolate around eleven when everyone was in bed. But damn it, I wasn't asked if I wanted any the other night and it pissed me off.

I know it's a Saturday … but fucking hell, can't I be a normal teen and sleep in like all other teens do?

"Sasuke, Naruto wants you to take him, I think it's his way to say he's sorry." Itachi said through the door. That's right, Naruto's been giving me the cold shoulder the last few days … I was wondering why he was talking to me a few minutes ago.

Wait, Naruto's up at six in the morning!?

"When did hell freeze over Itachi? Naruto's up at six in the fucking morning!" I asked, my voice raising slightly by the time I was done talking as I shot up in bed, shocked.

"I know, he was up before me. Apparently he couldn't sleep because he was excited about seeing Gaara today." Itachi explained, and that seemed like a good, valid answer.

"I'll be ready by seven thirty, I just need half an hour more of sleep." I told Itachi, and I'm leaving it to him to explain to Naruto why I'm not up yet.

"I don't think that's going to be possible, he wants to go out to breakfast with you." Itachi said, and I sighed heavily in annoyance.

"I'm getting ready now. I need a shower." I huffed, mostly to myself but Itachi heard me because I heard him walk away from my bedroom door and I heaved myself off my bed and went over to my dresser to pull out some dark gray skinny jeans and a black tank top to go under a black, red and gray plaid shirt that was hanging up in my closet, and grabbed a clean pair of boxers before I went into the adjoining bathroom and turned on the shower water. I waited for the water to get steaming hot before I stripped down and stepped into the shower.

The hot water felt great on my muscles that I didn't realize were stiff until now. And it felt like it was the first time I've been able to relax, really, in over a month.

"I'm so taking a bath tonight." I groaned to myself and hoped that Naruto didn't mind.

"Hey, Sasuke, I need to talk to you when you get out." I heard Itachi say as I heard the bathroom door crack open.

"Whatever." I sighed heavily, my alone time in the shower officially over with and I quickly finished up.

When I was dried, dressed and back in my room looking for a pair of socks five minutes later, there was a knock on my bedroom door, and I knew it was Itachi.

"Come on in." I said as I finally found some socks and walked around to the door side of my bed and sat down just as Itachi walked in and closed the door. His whole body looked rigid and extremely stiff.

"Is everything okay?" I asked consciously as Itachi went and grabbed my computer chair and sat down in it, silently, and it was starting to freak me out.

"Oh, everything is okay. I just want you to keep Naruto away from here as long as you possibly can." He said, and I glared. Can't I have a damn Saturday to myself?

"Why?" I asked, not sounding too happy.

"It's Naruto's birthday." He answered, and my attitude suddenly changed into a surprised one. I had completely forgotten when it was.

"Is it really?" I asked.

"Yea, he told me the other day, and we have to make this good. I'll explain later." Itachi said, wondering why he was going to wait, until I heard a loud bang in the hallway close to my door and rolled my eyes … Naruto …

"Okay, I'll go to the grocery for you while Naruto is visiting Gaara." I said, winking at Itachi.

"I'll text you a list later. I have some work I wanna finish up." Itachi said, grinning back as he got up and put my computer chair back before he went and opened my door, arms crossed as he glared at Naruto, though I know, personally, that it was a fake glare.

"I was seeing if Sasuke was ready." Naruto said with a shaky voice.

"Yea, yea, I'm ready." I said as I quickly slid my feet into the ankle socks and walked up next to Itachi.

For once, it was nice to see Naruto in something other than sweats, though the orange was a little blinding on his orange and black long sleeved shirt. The v-neck showing that he was wearing a mesh shirt underneath it. At least his pants was just a regular pair of skinny jeans and he had on a pair of knee high orange converse I don't remember him having before today.

"I want to go to Bob Evans for breakfast." Naruto said, though to me it sounded like a question.

"Sure, let me double check and see what's on my card before we leave." I said, remembering that I might need to transfer some money after yesterday when I went to Barnes and Noble.

"Sure." Naruto smiled and Itachi pushed his chair down the hallway and I was left alone as I turned my laptop on and went straight to my banks website and logged in.

When I saw that I had plenty left on my card, I logged off and closed the laptop, putting the laptop to sleep before I grabbed my wallet and keys just as I left my room. Today was going to be long, I just know it … Naruto was probably going to make sure it was!

In all my life, I never thought Naruto would eat so little when we got to breakfast. It was like whatever appetite he had in the car suddenly vanished into thin air, because all the way here, all he talked about was how hungry he was. Practically starving. And when he only ordered a bagel and some orange segments, I thought I was hallucinating.

When he told me it was because he was nervous on visiting Gaara, not knowing if his red head was any better or not, it made him sick to his stomach. I could believe him on that.

"Gaara's just fine, Naruto." I told him once we got into the car … comfortably … I drove off in the general direction of the hospital, my right hand resting on his shoulder as I tried calming him down. "Tsunade would never let anything happen to him and you know that."

"I … I know Sasuke …" Naruto sighed, and I know he was back inside the bubble of depression once again.

Honestly, I thought these new pills were supposed to help him. I'm going to have to mention that to Tsunade when I see her.

"Sasuke …" Naruto mumbled so low I almost didn't hear him.

"Yea?" I asked.

"I want to talk to you during lunch. And if you see Tsunade before I do, tell her to come talk to me." Naruto said. "I want to ask her something."

"Okay." I nodded, not wanting to question him in case it pissed him off.

I sighed as I turned into the hospital parking lot and pulled up to the main entrance, parking the car and got out. Another moment when I needed to heave out the wheelchair from the trunk. That's the only think I didn't like about him being crippled.

"Oh! I was hoping to see you two this morning." A familiar female voice said towards my left. And when I looked to see who it was, it was Matatabi; one of Naruto's favorite nurses.

"Hey Matatabi!" Naruto yelled, all his happiness back fro probably only a few moments.

"Tsunade said you can get your x-rays today so we can see how far you've healed." Matatabi said with a smile as she turned to talk to Naruto. I felt like I was being ignored.

"Awesome!" Naruto smiled.

"How about we do that before you go up and visit Gaara?" She asked as I opened Naruto's chair, positioning it before I helped him out of the car and into the chair.

"Sure."

"Then I can take him from here Sasuke." Matatabi said when Naruto pulled his chair back from the car and I closed the door.

"Great. I'm parking the car and I'll meet you in Gaara's room, Naruto." I nodded, walking back to the drivers' side and buckled up.

"See ya there Sasuke!" Naruto said, waving as I drove off and parked my car in the car garage.

When I got to Gaara's room, Naruto wasn't there, but Temari and Kankuro were there … and Gaara was wide awake.

"Well, Sasuke, long time no see." Gaara said, his voice cracking a bit, signaling to me that he had a dry throat. "And I've been up since five." HE added before I could ask, and I nodded.

"Well then, be quiet until Naruto comes up." I smirked, crossing my arms as I leaned against the doorway.

"Why is he here?" Gaara asked, and I could sense a hint of panic in his words.

"X-rays … and to see his boyfriend on his birthday." I answered with a shrug, and I thought the red heads eyes were going to pop out of their sockets when I mentioned 'birthday'.

"I've been out all week?" Gaara almost yelled.

"Gaara … shh." Temari said. "And don't worry, I knew what you were going to get him so that's taken care of already."

"Thank you Temari." Gaara sighed with visible relief, just as I heard Matatabi and Naruto's voices down the hall.

I signaled to the whole room to be quiet and I turned around, making sure to have a sad look on my face as they reached the door.

"Sasuke … why are you looking at me like that?" Naruto asked, and I thought he was going to start hyperventilating if he learned the complete opposite of Gaara's real condition.

So I shrugged and stepped back, letting them in and the tears fell from Naruto's eyes faster than the smile that grew on his face. I couldn't help but smile either when Gaara forced himself out of bed and threw himself into Naruto's out stretched arms. But I could have gone without the make out scene that happened within the next few seconds after the hug.

"Okay boys, lets break it up." Matatabi said as she tapped on Gaara's shoulder softly. Seriously, she was too nice at most times. Like now.

"Best birthday present ever." Naruto smirked when Gaara pulled back, blushing a brilliant shade of tomato.

"And I have more good news …"Tsunade's voice rang into the room. "When you leave, Naruto, you'll be leaving that chair here and taking a pair of crutches."

"Yay!" Naruto squealed out as he thrust both fists into the air.

This was the best news I've heard since Itachi said today is the dobe's birthday.

"Sasuke, don't piss him off either." Tsunade smirked at me. Great, now I wished he stayed in the wheelchair.

"Yea, teme." Naruto said, a smirk planted on his face and I frowned slightly when he stuck his tongue out at me. "Oh, baa-chan, can we talk in the hallway/" Naruto added, all the happiness leaving his face and I think I knew why.

"Sure, Naruto." Tsunade nodded and she stepped out into the hallway as Matatabi pulled him out of the room and towards the direction Tsunade went.


	37. Chapter 37 Naruto

_**Chapter 37**_

_**Naruto**_

I've been nervous all morning. So nervous, I wanted to do nothing but throw up and I did that twice last night when everyone went to bed … though I gladly left that out when Itachi got up and found me laying down on the couch. He looked pissed, but he laid off when I told him I just couldn't sleep because I was too excited to see Gaara for the first time since Saturday.

It was true, I was excited, but the nervousness is what got me. It always did.

In fact, I was so nervous, that I only ate an extremely small breakfast and I thought Sasuke was wanting to get me admitted into the hospital, but I was too glad that he accepted my lame excuse of nerves.

But in all honesty, I wanted to beat Sasuke over the head with a wrench when he joked about Gaara's condition with that look that spelled death before Matatabi pushed me into the room and Gaara got up off the bed and jumped into my arms.

I think I was crying, I don't know, but I was already kissing Gaara intimately when I realized that I was. And to be truthful, I didn't care if someone was watching the two of us make out in the room. It's my birthday … and I want Gaara as a birthday present.

"Okay boys, lets break it up." Matatabi said and Gaara pulled back a moment later, and I couldn't help but smirk when I saw his face was a deep shade of tomato.

"Best birthday present ever." I smirked.

"And I have more good news …"Tsunade's voice rang into the room. "When you leave, Naruto, you'll be leaving that chair here and taking a pair of crutches."

"Yay!" I squealed out as I thrust both fists into the air.

This was going to be an awesome birthday!

"Sasuke, don't piss him off either." Tsunade smirked at Sasuke. And that only let me see that I had the right to hit Sasuke in the head with them when he pissed me off. Perfect.

"Yea, teme." I said, a smirk planted on my face and I watched Sasuke frown and I couldn't help but make my smirk wider, until I remembered I wanted to talk to Tsunade. "Hey, baa-chan, may I talk to you in the hallway?" I asked.

"Sure, Naruto." Tsunade nodded and she stepped out into the hallway as Matatabi pulled me out of the room and towards the direction Tsunade went.

Deep inside my heart, I was dreading my talk with her as we walked by the nurses station and towards the general direction of her office … and knew that she was also wanting to talk to me about something. And I couldn't help but feel that it was nothing good.

Nothing good came out of talking to a damn doctor in their office.

"So Naruto, how old are you today?" Matatabi asked as we climbed into the elevators behind Tsunade, who was strangely quiet.

"I'm officially fifteen." I smiled as I looked up at her, then over to Tsunade who looked busy reading something. I guess she's looking over another patients records or something. But her silence is really starting to pull my last nerve. She's never quiet.

"And why are you so quiet baa-chan?" I asked, crossing my arms as the elevator doors opened and we got off so the people waiting could get on.

"I'm just in deep thought right now." She said, and it made me scowl at her.

It was mere minutes before we got to Tsunade's office and she held the door open as Matatabi pushed me through the doors and Tsunade followed, walking to the other side of her desk and sat down before I was even locked in front of her desk and Matatabi left to go and do her rounds back on Gaara's floor. I sighed heavily before Tsunade even started talking.

"So, Naruto, you wanted to talk to me?" She said.

"Oooh, no, you're talking first, baa-chan." I scowled and glared at her. "I'll hear what you have to say then I'll think about how I'm going to ask you my question."

"Okay then." She said, and she didn't even sound upset. "First, Gaara's ready to go home today. He had a really bad cold, which is why the fever came back as bad as it did. You of all people know he has a weak immune system so you can just imagine what a cold does to him. And second, you're almost healed, shockingly enough."

"Wait, almost healed?"

"Yes, but you're going to be on crutches for the next three weeks." She said as she sat back in her chair. "And I'd like it if you kept wearing that back brace until then too."

"Sure thing baa-chan." I smiled.

" Just take your time getting used to using the rest of your body again, you hear? I don't want you back in the hospital because of your back again." She threatened, and I nodded. I don't even want to be back in here.

"Yes ma'am." I said, now biting my lip as I realized now it was my turn to talk to her.

"And you wanted to talk to me?" She asked as if she was reminding me of what I said earlier.

"I know I said that." I hissed, now making the well known movements of hugging myself with my left arm and started biting my right thumb, my gaze fixed on the surface of her desk, but I could see her face changing from one thing to another and lean forward on her desk a little bit.

"It's okay to talk to me, Naruto." She said.

"I know." I nodded and took a deep breath before I continued speaking. "Do you have the recordings of our last 'counseling session'?"

"No, Ibiki has those, why?" She asked, and her face hardened as she scrunched her brows together. She looked like she's getting pissed.

"I need them." I said, and I was ready for her to start yelling.

"Why?" She asked, her voice surprisingly low.

"I'm having Sasuke listen to them." I said, and now … she was pissed.

"Like fucking hell he's listening to those tapes Naruto!" She yelled as she shot up to her feet. "He's not ready to hear anything you said during that session!"

"Yes he is!" I yelled back. "And if I recall, it's my damn choice if he gets to listen to them or not."

"Fine, whatever. Do what you want. Don't come crying to me if he suddenly avoids you." Tsunade continued to yell before she sat back down in her chair and picked up the phone.

I, for one, know Sasuke wouldn't avoid me if he heard those tapes. More than anything, he'd just be extremely pissed off, but that's about it.

"Ibiki's going to be here in twenty minutes with those tapes. You're lucky he's agreeing." Tsunade snapped.

"Baa-chan … put together the pieces." I said, calmly. "Eight incidents … all of them happening after I turned seven … and they were all once a damn fucking year."

"That's why you want Sasuke to know?" She sighed heavily a few minutes later. If it was even possible, she even looked more pissed off than ever.

"Yes, now may I please go back to Gaara's room?" I whined.

"Yes, I'll take you to the floor, but you'll have to wheel yourself down to his room. I'm needed in surgery in thirty minutes." She nodded as she got up and wheeled me backwards out of her office and down the hall.

Honestly, I should feel like a great weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, but I don't feel like anything's changed. I guess we'll have to wait and see what Sasuke says after he listens to those tapes … I'm dreading the moment he's seeking me out once he's done, though.

"Hey, Naruto, is everything okay?" Gaara asked me as I wheeled my chair into his room and Sasuke helped me the rest of the way by grabbing the arm and pulled me in. I was thankful for that. I didn't realize how exhausting it is to work the chair by yourself other than around the house. I suddenly felt sorry for Itachi and Sasuke.

"Nothing, just wondering what I wanna do today other than visit you." I told Gaara, winking at him and I laughed inwardly when he blushed again.

"What did Tsunade want to talk to you about?" Sasuke asked, and I really wished he hadn't.

"Well, first off, Gaara … if you don't start taking better care of yourself, I'm making a huge ass rubber bubble and you're going to start living in it." I said, crossing my arms as I looked over at Gaara with a raised eyebrow.

"It's that time of year." He whined.

"You weren't this bad last year." I told him.

"I know!"

"And what else did she say?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm on crutches for three weeks." I said, now looking at Sasuke with a wide smirk.

Sasuke scoffed and turned his head. I could tell he was conflicted with the idea of me being on crutches for that long. There was good and bad news in the new change; No more wheelchair, but also if you piss me off I can hit you with them. I looked forward to using the later.

"And I'm going back to school." I added, though we never talked about it.

"She says you're being home schooled." Sasuke said.

"I don't care, I'm going back to school Monday and none of you will be able to stop me." I said, sticking my tongue out at everyone in the room. "Oh, and Gaara gets to go home today." I added, almost forgetting to say something about that.

"That's great." Gaara smiled. "When can I leave?"

"After lunch." I said quickly, trying my damned best not to bite my thumb and look as calm as I possibly could. "And I promised Sasuke I'd eat lunch with him so I could talk to him about some things." I added, looking over at Gaara to see if he'd be pissed off, and I was glad he wasn't.

"And I'm shocked, Naruto." Gaara said, and I could feel the panic inside me begin to rise. "You finally started listening to Tsunade."

I sighed inwardly with relief that he didn't ask what I was going to talk to Sasuke about.

"Yea, I realized that I'd be able to do the shit I want if I listened … compared to when I tried to go to work." I laughed, though by the end I was mumbling so low that not everyone could hear me.

"Yea, I remember, that's the whole reason you needed back surgery." Sasuke scoffed.

I crossed my arms and glared at him. He knew how to be an ass at the wrong damn time.

"So, how's your car coming along Temari?" Sasuke asked, and I rose an eyebrow in confusion.

"I need a new transmission." She scoffed, but it didn't seem to bother her in the slightest.

"Doesn't seem to be too bad of a job. When you getting your car back?" Sasuke continued asking.

"Next week some time."

"Wait, when did your car break down?" Gaara asked.

"Tuesday night when Kankuro and I got home … Thank God we just pulled up the drive way when it stalled." Temari sighed and sat down in the now empty chair as Kankuro got up, leaving the room because his phone had started ringing.

"You're lucky." Gaara said, crossing his arms as he sat on the side of the bed. Honestly, I wished he had real clothes on right now … Especially … right now.

Shifting uneasily in my wheelchair, I crossed my knees, praying that my pants wouldn't start getting tighter, but also praying that no one noticed my uneasiness as I bit my bottom lip.

"Hey, Naruto, want us to leave you and Gaara alone until lunch?" Sasuke asked, and the heat in the room suddenly got much hotter and I lowered my head so my face was hidden in the shadows of my hair. I couldn't help it as I started chewing on the said lip I was biting until I broke skin a little bit.

"Shut up Sasuke." I heard Gaara hiss, and when I took a peek at Gaara, his face was redder than the color of his hair.

"There will be no sex in my hospital." Tsunade's voice rang into the room, scaring the shit out of me and I stiffened even more.

"Ibiki is here." Tsunade sighed when she saw how tense I was.

"You needed me Naruto?" Ibiki's voice said behind me and I suddenly felt smaller … because all eyes in the room were now on me.

"Hallway." I mumbled, and right on que, I was pulled back into the hallway, watching Gaara glaring at me as I left. Great, I was going to hear it from him later.

"I want the tapes from Tuesday." I said once the chair stopped moving and Tsunade and Ibiki were in front of me. My hands going straight out in front of me as my head dropped once again and I waited patiently, hoping they wouldn't make this a tug of war game.

"I can't just give them to you Naruto." Ibiki sighed and crossed his arms. "What if you're going to throw them away?"

"I'm having Sasuke-teme hear them. I can't voice what I told you guys again, I've tried these last two days and I just can't … so he needs them so he knows what I told you." I explained, now on the verge of tears, not knowing I was shaking so much until someone grabbed my hands and held them together.

"Have Sasuke listen to them with Ibiki, you should go with Gaara for a few hours so those two can talk." Tsunade suggested softly.

"Sasuke won't listen to them without me." I sniffed. When did I start crying?

"Yes he will." Tsunade said.

"I'm sure he will Naruto, Sasuke isn't like that." Ibiki said.

"He'll hate me." I cried after a few moments of silence and wished that this whole conversation was over with. No, I wish for this whole day to be over with already, actually.

"He won't hate you Naruto." Tsunade said before I felt her arms wrap around me in a hug. "If you're thinking so negative about this, then wait to tell him."

"No, I can't." I said, shaking my head before I buried my face in her shoulder. "I'm also telling Gaara another day."

"You tell him and I'm not going to protect your father if he has a mental breakdown." Tsunade warned as she pulled back, her hands resting on my shoulders as I felt her look at me. My head was down so I couldn't make eye contact with either her or Ibiki.

"I know." I nodded.

"How long were you going to wait?" Tsunade sighed.

"In a week or so, before my father comes home." I said, nodding as I wiped my face dry with my right arm.

"Alright." Tsunade sighed again, standing up and crossing her arms. I didn't have to look up to know she was thinking about something.

"Okay, Sasuke can listen to the tapes alone … with Ibiki close by." Tsunade said a few moments later as she dropped her arms, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm fine with that." Ibiki nodded when I finally looked up at them.

"How about we let him listen to those tapes tomorrow too?" Tsunade suggested. "When it's not your birthday."

"That … sounds like a better idea, I guess." I shrugged. Honestly I didn't really care when he listened to them, the ending result was going to be the same; yelling and arguing.

"Well, lets get back to the room then, they're probably wondering if I'm making you walk without those crutches I promised to give you when you leave." Tsunade sighed, walking around my chair and started wheeling me back into Gaara's room who, thankfully, was dressed in every day atire. And his father was there.

When in the hell did he get here?

"Okay, personally, Raidon, I'm going to say that Naruto spends the day with Gaara until around five … ish." Tsunade said, and I was shocked that he nodded in agreement. "And Sasuke, you have a choice, talk with Ibiki and I when Naruto leaves or tomorrow in Itachi's office." She added.

"Tomorrow." Sasuke answered without hesitation and I sighed heavily with relief on a breath that I had been holding since we came back into the room. I was too glad, sort of, that he decided to wait.

"Now that that's settled, I'm going to get going now." Ibiki said, "See you tomorrow Sasuke." And he was gone, leaving the room deadly quiet, making me shift uneasily in the wheelchair once again.

"That reminds me, Gaara, Naruto's been put on anti-depressants as of Wednesday this past week." Tsunade said, and I glared at her. He did **not** need to know about that now of all times.

"I know … Sasuke told me." Gaara sighed, surprising me that he's not beyond pissed, but I redirected my glare towards Sasuke, who seems to have sank in the chair he was in.

Yea, he knew he pissed me off.

"Well, Gaara, since you're ready to go, you can go on ahead and take your leave. See Matatabi for your two prescriptions that I filled out for you and Naruto, she also has your crutches." Tsunade said as she clapped her hands together lightly. "And I have to go, I'm running late for a surgery that was supposed to have started five minutes ago." And she was off.

I looked over at Sasuke, my gave completely softened because I was no longer pissed off at him, and sighed heavily. I was prepared for him to be pissed off with me tomorrow.

"See you later Sasuke." I said.

"Yea, see ya." He said as he waved, leaving before Gaara even had his shoes on all the way.

Did I piss him off already?

"Lets go Naruto, I have a lot of things planned that we are going to do today." Gaara said happily as he grabbed my chair and pushed me out of the room and down the hall before I could say anything.

"Hey, guys, Temari is going to be your driver, I have some work I need to get done." Gaara's dad said behind us, and I was extra glad that he wasn't going to be there.

"Okay." I nodded, today was going to be a great day … I think.


	38. Chapter 38 Sasuke

_**Chapter 38**_

_**Sasuke**_

To be honest, I thought Gaara was going to start yelling at Naruto when Tsunade dragged him out of the room and down the hall to talk to Ibiki, but now was the best time to tell Temari and Gaara Itachi's plans tonight for Naruto. I'm sure that they'd tell Kankuro when they saw him, alone. Or tell him through text.

"Hey, guys, now that Naruto's out of the room, I have something to tell you." I said, sitting down in the other empty chair at the foot of Gaara's bed and crossed my arms.

"What is it Uchiha?" Gaara asked, and he sounded pissed.

"Itachi is planning a surprise birthday party for Naruto, everyone's invited." I said before I could be interrupted. "A few other people are going to be there too, and I'm going to go pick them up after going to the store for Itachi later today after lunch."

"Okay." Temari smiled, just as Kankuro walked into the room, looking confused for a moment.

"Okay what?" He asked, then raised his hands. "Before you tell me, Dad is on his way over with Gaara's change of clothes so he can go home."

"Alright, and we've been invited to Naruto's surprise birthday party." Temari said as she looked up at him while resting her elbow on the arm of the chair and rested her head on her hand. She looked bored, but the gleam in her eyes told me she was too excited to get to the party. Probably hoping that Shikamaru would be there.

"Anyway, Itachi said that the party starts at six tonight and will be over around eight or nine." I told them, dragging my phone out and reading the text message he sent me a few minutes ago along with the list of groceries I had to go and get. Fucking hell, I'm gonna have to spend over a hundred dollars.

"That's perfect, I mean, we'll probably have the blondie for a while anyway, and Gaara here probably will make us drag them to a movie and to the mall if he isn't too tired with the crutches." Temari shrugged, and earned a glare from Gaara.

"I still don't know what we're going to do Temari! I haven't made up my mind yet." Gaara said, crossing his arms as he closed his eyes and looked away. Best pouting if I ever saw it.

"Keep your voice down, Naruto might here." I hissed quietly over at the three siblings, hoping they wouldn't be too pissed off at me for getting short with them. In all honesty, I wasn't looking forward to a house full of people … _my_ house … full of people … Fucking shit.

"Naruto might hear what?" A voice by the door asked, and when we all looked over, it was Gaara's dad. Damn, how fast did he drive here?

"Naruto's birthday is today and we have to distract him for a couple of hours." Gaara said, obviously not looking at his father, probably still pissed off at him for last week.

"Oh, okay." His father shrugged and I stared at him, slightly wide eyed that he didn't object to the fact that his sons' boyfriend was going to be with him for quite a bit of the day. I guess he finally opened his eyes and let his son live for a change. "And here's your outfit, Gaara. I tried to grab something you'd want to wear." He added as he walked into the room and handed Gaara his clothes that were in a grocery bag, folded neatly.

"I also have a coat and a scarf for you in the car." His dad said before Gaara could say anything, and the red headed teen nodded before he jumped down from the bed.

"I'll be changing in the bathroom if Naruto comes back and I'm not in here." He said and disappeared into the patients bathroom and locked the door. I was surprised he didn't look as pissed off as he did earlier when his father walked into the room.

I don't know what happened in the week that none of us really talked to this family, but it was starting to freak me out how Gaara and his father were getting along now.

"So, Sasuke, how's Naruto doing?" Gaara's father asked as he sat on the edge of the bed where Gaara was sitting a moment ago.

"Uhm, he's doing great, he's able to use crutches as of today when he leaves." I told him, and he looked relieved. This is too freaky.

"That's good, that means he's healing quickly and much better than last time." Gaara's father said, reaching up and scratching the back of his head nervously; the same thing I did when I was nervous, and wished that he'd just leave already.

I was about to say something about that when Gaara came out of the bathroom fully dressed and in shoes, the gown in his arms as he sat on the bed next to his dad and left the gown on it before he crossed his arms and looked impatient to get the day started with Naruto.

The room was getting awkwardly quiet, and I felt like I should break the silence before it made me mentally lose it, until I saw Naruto's chair turn into the room and he looked most definitely like he'd been crying when Tsunade pushed him into the room the rest of the way with Ibiki behind him, and I felt like I was going to be interrogated when Ibiki looked over at me with his arms crossed. What the hell did I do now?

"Okay, personally, Raidon, I'm going to say that Naruto spends the day with Gaara until around five … ish." Tsunade said, and I was shocked that he nodded in agreement. "And Sasuke, you have a choice, talk with Ibiki and I when Naruto leaves or tomorrow in Itachi's office." She added.

"Tomorrow." I answered without hesitation, I wanted to make sure Itachi's to do list was broken down somewhat since it seemed to be growing as I felt my phone buzz in my pocket non stop … it was personally starting to piss me off.

"Now that that's settled, I'm going to get going now." Ibiki said, "See you tomorrow Sasuke." And he was gone, leaving the room deadly quiet once again and I could feel the anger just seething off of Gaara that sat two feet away from me. What the hell did Naruto see in him anyway?

"That reminds me, Gaara, Naruto's been put on anti-depressants as of Wednesday this past week." Tsunade said, and I watched as Naruto glared at her with such intensity that I thought he was going to jump out of his chair and smack her

"I know … Sasuke told me." Gaara sighed, surprising me that he's not beyond pissed, but I Naruto's death glare redirect towards me, and I didn't have to look to know that either, as I sank in my chair as I tried to hide myself … failing miserably.

Yea, I knew I pissed him off.

"Well, Gaara, since you're ready to go, you can go on ahead and take your leave. See Matatabi for your two prescriptions that I filled out for you and Naruto, she also has your crutches." Tsunade said as she clapped her hands together lightly. "And I have to go, I'm running late for a surgery that was supposed to have started five minutes ago." And she was off.

When Tsunade left, I felt eyes on me once again and this time they didn't feel like the death glare Naruto was giving me earlier, and I looked over to him and saw that he had this sad look upon him once again. I felt he wanted to tell me something, but I knew he'd never tell me so when he spoke, I was nothing but disappointed.

"See you later Sasuke." He said.

"Yea, see ya." I said as I waved to him, getting up and leaving before Gaara even had his shoes on all the way. I had a lot of places to go, and I wanted to get them done quickly. I only had five hours to get all the shopping done and it was going to take that long, it was a feeling I had.

First off, I drove home to talk to Itachi about the grocery list he sent me … it was too damn long for only a small birthday party. And when I walked in through the front door, I was welcomed to the house decorated with birthday streamers and happy birthday balloons that I didn't even know we had and I was just dumbfounded until I closed the door and Itachi walked into the living room. And he looked upset that I was here, that was until his eyes widened and he started freaking out.

"Where's Naruto?" He asked quickly.

"He's with Gaara until the party." I answered, oops, I forgot to text him that.

"Oh, thank God." He heaved and his whole body relaxed as he threw himself onto the couch. He looked exhausted already.

"When did you go and get these?" I asked as I pointed to the streamers and balloons.

"Tenshi went and got them for me at the dollar store. He just left a few minutes ago because he had to go to work." Itachi said. "Why are you here? You're supposed to be at the grocery store."

"I came here to talk to you about that." I said, crossing my arms as I tapped my foot on the floor, not walking in any further because I didn't want to take my shoes off.

"Why?" He asked, and he looked confused.

"The list is too long for a small birthday party. We're only having at most ten people, right?" I told him.

"Well, I figured he'd want all his friends from school, that's what, 10 people there, but there's at most twenty one people on the guest list and I've already talked to everyone but your friends from school. Tenshi hopes to come tonight, Naruto wanted Matatabi, Kurama and Saiken to come, but they work third shift tonight so they're not going to be able to come. Tsunade's going to make sure her and Jiraiya are here tonight, and that's roughly sixteen … seventeen people at most." Itachi explained, and I frowned. That's too many people in my opinion.

"I'll call the others while I'm out. I have their numbers." I sighed heavily.

"You're a savior." Itachi said, and I glared at him.

"Oh, and I'm picking up the birthday cake at five and at that same time I need you to order the pizza, I have what pizza to order on the counter so when I leave you can find it. Oh, and Tenshi and I screened in the back porch area so if anyone wants to eat outside they can and won't be bothered by the few insects that are still flying around."

"You did a lot while I was gone, didn't you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and was surprised he didn't fall asleep yet.

"Yes, we did, and I'm going to take a nap while you're gone to the grocery store so wake me up when you get back so I can help you bring the food in." Itachi said as he waved me off. "Oh, and try to go birthday shopping while you're at it."

"I planned on doing that before going to the store." I told him as I dug for my keys I put in my pocket, getting ready to leave as I yawned a bit. The suggestion of a nap made me feel tired.

"Okay, see you in a bit Sasuke." Itachi said as he laid down on the couch and I could immediately hear soft snoring coming form him before I opened the door to leave and chuckled slightly at how fast he fell asleep as I walked out and back to the car and left before it got too late.

Hell, I still didn't know what the fuck I was getting the blonde for his birthday. That was, until it hit me. "I know exactly what I can get him." And I drove off towards the mall with a smirk as I pressed send for the mass text message that I sent to everyone Itachi hadn't contacted telling them about the party tonight and turned my phone on silent. I didn't want to hear about anything until I was done shopping.


End file.
